


The Devil is in the Details

by Derpo, Pizzaplate



Category: Warhammer 40.000, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassin!Izuku, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Character Death, Dimension Travel, Family Feels, Gen, Good Parent Midoriya Inko, Light Angst, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Morally Ambiguous Character, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Supportive Midoriya Inko, U.A. is a University (My Hero Academia)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:00:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27594497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Derpo/pseuds/Derpo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pizzaplate/pseuds/Pizzaplate
Summary: Izuku has done many things: most of them he was proud of, some of them he would have preferred to forget. He was happy with his life. That was, until Father decided to send him back home. He now sat in his old home in Mustafu, not knowing what to do or where to go.So why not keep doing what he had been doing in service to the Golden Throne? Go beyond the human body’s limits.Plus Ultra, right?
Relationships: Emperor of Mankind & Midoriya Izuku, Kitten & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Hisashi & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Hisashi/Midoriya Inko, Midoriya Inko & Midoriya Izuku
Comments: 75
Kudos: 185





	1. Reflections

Izuku was a faithful servant of the Emperor. And he was stalking a monster. The scope of his rifle picking through the crowd of people, highlighting their faces before going onto the next one, looking for the monster disguised as a man.

Ah, there he is, moving at 1.8 meters per second. Talking with these innocent people, corrupting them with his vile words.

Distance: 2309 meters. The bullet will drop by 1,3 centimeters before it impacts.

Bullet travel time: 0.7 seconds.

He loaded his magazine, a shield-breaker round first, followed by an immolator round. He knew exactly what the personal defense capabilities of this rogue Ecclesiarch were, and he was taking no chances. His finger tensed around Anastasya's gilded trigger.

**BOOM**

The round hits. Personal shield device fails. Target recoils. Correct the aiming.

**BOOM**

The second round hits true. The target explodes in a shower of gore and a sizable fireball. Mission complete. 

He lets out a breath he wasn’t aware he had been holding. 

"That went well," was all he muttered. 

"HEY! HEY! Did ya see?” Izuku looked down at his companion, the machine spirit of his Exitus Longrifle speaking to him through his comm-bead. “Forty-nine days of a stakeout over in 1.8 seconds!!! By the Emperor, we are good!"

He internally wondered if all machine spirits were this talkative. At least her antics made sure he wasn’t lonely on missions like this. "Throne, you are noisy. Could you tune down the volume, Anastasya?" He could almost hear her smile in her voice.

"Hmm, sorry, but no. On the bright side, we can finally leave this Emperor-forsaken rock!” She switched her tone to something more sultry. “You wouldn't mind cleaning me first? I know you like getting that rag _deep_ inside me." 

Izuku choked back a laugh before rolling his eyes. "Whatever." He stood up and rolled his shoulders, making sure he wasn’t sore from sitting on a skull ornament for more than a month. Looking around at the spires and pillars that surrounded him, he shouldered his gun—if you could call it that. Closer in size to a cavalry lance than a rifle, his Exitus Longrifle was a 2.32 meter-long weapon made to fire 20mm bullets at supersonic speeds. 

He turned around and dropped a good thirteen meters to the ground, his landing almost silent. He began the walk to the hidden shuttle awaiting him in the mess of hive buildings nearby. When he arrived, the Skitarii pilot merely nodded as a greeting. 

"T͙̃ḁ͆k̮̓ë͚́ ͖͛o͇̾ff̫͆ ͖͝ĭ͎n ṭ̄w̖͛o ̫͂mi̥͒ṇ͊ǔ̹t̩͆e̻͗s̬̎." was all the man-machine hybrid said. He took one last deep breath, closing his eyes and letting his mind drift. His head made a dull _thud_ as it hit the metal of the shuttle.

"How did it all come to this?" he asked to no one in particular. The shuttle rumbled, and as the familiar feeling of speed overtook his body, it wasn’t much longer before sleep took him as well. As he slept, his mind began drifting to an event several lifetimes ago. Memories so long ago he was surprised he still remembered them.

* * *

The voice of a small child cried out after the blond. "Kacchan, please wait!"

The blond child turned around, red eyes aglow with hatred. "Why should I, you useless Deku? Your quirk can’t make anything useful! Who are you gonna arrest with the pencils you create? The tiny rocks? The candies you make aren’t even sweet! You may as well be Quirkless!" 

"But I wanna be a hero, like you—like All Might!" 

"Tsch—As if someone like you could be a hero!"

* * *

A rattle shook him awake, the memory fading. "As͙͊s̮̓a̦̚s͎̑sin ̺̔M̽ͅį̊dọ͞ri̩̓y̼̓a̪̔,͚̏ ̭͗We͇̔ ͍̾ar͟e ̮̊en͇̋t̻̕ĕ͖ȓ̦i̪͒n̮̅g͔͘ ț̌ḧ̞ḙ͒ ̡̋W̫̚ạ̓r̨p ̝̾s͙͝oo̮̒n͛͟.̬͐ Pr͚͑ē̙pa̮͊r̽͜e you̖̔r̳͝sel͍͐f̫͠, a̖͊n̼̏d̬̅ ̗͡s̡t̪͂r̨̒a̢͒p in."

“ _Right_ ,” he thought to himself, “ _I’m not there—I’m here._ ” He relaxed a bit as a sigh escaped his lips. 

"What? You still hoping to go back?" Anastasya asked. 

"Sure, eventually.” He offers a slight shrug as a response to the question. “I mean, it is—it was—my home." 

He could almost visualize her scoffing at that. "What would you even do if you go back? Become one of those _heroes_ you used to talk about? They can’t even kill their enemies! They just kick the problem down the road. Why should you go back? Here is it much better! You were trained by all six masters and Malcador himself, after all! There is no one better than you! You are needed here!" 

"You’re just scared that I’d leave you behind," he retorts.

They had had this argument many times before, and he knew his equipment better than anyone. 

"So? What's so bad about that! At least I care! Who could you say that about back ‘home’?" 

" _Don't forget me, you two!_ " A smaller voice piped up from the holster on his hip.

"Ah, sorry Chüsü." Izuku nervously rubbed the back of his head, a habit that not even the years of training had managed to scrub out of him. Chüsü laughed, or at least as close to it as a machine spirit can.

" _Man, you really should stop living in your own mind.”_ He was silent for a bit before hurriedly adding to his statement. _“Don't take that badly. It's good to have a grip on your past, but don't let it drag you down, 'k?_ " 

Izuku didn’t have a response to that. He just closed his eyes as he felt the Warp Drive kick in, and soon the rumbling had rocked him to sleep.

His first time sleeping in more than a month, since he had been deployed to this rock at the Beginning of his mission. Any normal human would sleep restfully, their dreams pleasant and unobtrusive. He was no normal human, and his dreams were not pleasant. He dreams of times long past, of times when his Father was not bound to the Golden Throne, or looked like a corpse. As sleep continued, his brain began creating wilder and wilder images. In one, he was a tender five years old again, spit back onto the table where he had first met Father. In another, he was training with Malcador again, every wrinkle on his face perfectly remembered. In the next—

A sudden jolt shook him awake. He activated his comm-bead to the pilot. “What’s happening?” he asked, fearing the worst.

“W̭̒e̦͘ ̪̇hav̥̾e̬͘ e̜͝x̲̾ȋ͓t̙͌eḍ͒ t̻̾h̬̒e Ẉ͡a̗̎r̖̈́p̡ ̯̎a̫̿nd͔͋ ̝̽a͓̿r̮ë̘ ̞̑a̖͝p̩̉pró̘â̠ch̻̒i̥̊n͇̐g ̯͗T͇̋er̖̔r͈͆a ā͈g̙͞a̛̺i̮̋n.̺̌ P̯͡le̚͢a̧sę̇ ̡͘re̼̅m̤̿a̩͘ĩ̱n ͈̐seạ̿t̼̚ed͇̈ unt͓̾ȉ̪l we m͕̈ạ̍k͙͌ȩ̚ lȧ̳n͚̄d̙͞f̮̽all.̙̈ _”_

“ _We’re back to Terra already? How long was I out for?_ ” Izuku thought, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

_“_ _Yǫ̊u͍̓ ̲̔h̯͞a̹̾v̡̕e̲͠ ̖b̥́e̳͞en̖̉ ̂͟asl̺͂e͈͛ep ̲̓f͎̓or o̐͜n̥͊e͍͋ ̲͐h͉̔u̜̓ndr̝̽e̥͐d̟̿ a̝̚n͍̉ḓ͑ ̦͊fo̟͆r͖̄t̤̊ŷ̫ f̟͆ḭ̛v̟ẽ̗ hoǘ̞r̪͗s͚͞,̉͟ ̹͐t̀͢we̪̾nty̪͒-t̿͢hr͎͝ę̿e minủ̙tẹ̌s͌͟ ͎͌ä͚n̦͂d̲̔ ͢s͕͆é̖v͋͜en̦̉tḛ̀e̯͋n͊͜ ̩̚ş͂eco̮̕n̳͠ds.̮̉_ _”_

The answer caught him off guard. Partly because he hadn’t remembered activating his suspended animation suit function, and partly because he wondered if the Skitarii had connected to his cortex implants without his permission. _“No, that’s definitely not the case. No Skitarii would dare do something so out of line. More than likely I just mumbled and his audio processors picked it up.”_

He got up and looked out the viewport in the back of the Arvus Lander. A golden marble stood out against the blackness of the void. “ _I can't believe that it’s been more than a month since I last visited Terra. I’ll get to see Kitten again, and Father!”_

Izuku sat down again and checked his equipment. Everything was how it should be, in its designated place and in perfect condition—all except Anastasya.

“So, you finally remembered to clean me,” she huffed. If she had a face, Izuku was sure she would be pouting. The mental image made him giggle.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, “What’s so funny about that? I'm still filthy, and you know what our agreement is.” 

“Yeah yeah, I keep you clean as much as I can, and you don’t make me pray to you to get you to work. Hold on, let me find that strip kit.” 

“Oh, I’ll let you _strip_ clean me anytime you want, little Izu!”

That got a genuine laugh out of the man. As he began rummaging through his pack looking for his cleaning kit, his mind wandered off to a time so distant that many in the Imperium dispute it happened in the first place. The beginning of the Great Crusade.

The time he met Father.


	2. The Man of Gold and the Child of Green

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit delayed but here it is. enjoy

It had taken very little to convince the Emperor to make the Assassinorum an official part of the Imperium. The meeting on Terra between Malcador, the Master Assassins, and the Emperor had barely taken an hour before He had agreed. With Malcador continuing as the grandmaster, many of their previous logistical problems would be solved. The Master Assassins simply had to be a bit more careful with ensuring that their goodwill with the Emperor was not wasted.

“This is wonderful news!” Siress Callidus exclaimed. “With the Astropathic support, access to the Navigator houses, and new transport ships, all we need now are more recruits for the temples. The Officio Assassinorum shall serve the Imperium faithfully from this day forward!''

She had barely finished her sentence before a blueish portal opened above the table and spat out a green-haired child, who immediately fell face-first onto the table. 

The masters immediately readied their weapons. “Who are you? Identify yourself immediately! How did you find this place, let alone sneak in?” shouted Sire Eversor. The child made clear sounds of pain before being startled by the shouting, looking around with pure terror and confusion in his face. The Emperor used his vast psychic might to peer into the mind of the scared, nearly crying child. A brilliant light surrounded his head as he peered into the boy’s mind. A small smile graced his lips. “Lower your weapons, my children. This boy—this child—means us no harm. **”**

“But my lord,” interrupted Sire Vindicare, “he has just dr—” 

“I have spoken!” bellowed the Emperor, the faintest hint of psychic amplification filling the room. “He was attacked by a rogue psyker, but with luck the tides of the Immaterium have sent him to us.” He turned to look at the Master Assassins. “I also believe that you all will have a great deal of interest in this child. He may even prove to be an excellent recruit.”  


The six masters looked at each other rather nervous. Grandmaster Malcador was the first to move. Holstering his bolt pistol, he cleared his throat before speaking. “You have heard His Lordship. Lower your weapons.” 

The green-haired boy looked around with even more confusion. Sire Vanus looked at him through multiple different auspex arrays, his augmetic eyes cataloging any potential detail of this new creature. “Boy! What is your name? Where do you hail from?” 

“Nani? Koko wa doko? Anatahadare? Naze anata wa Ōrumaito no yō ni mieru nodesu ka? Dō shita? Okāsan wa doko?” **  
**

A look of surprise crossed the masters’ faces. In all their years, they had never heard such a strange language, yet just a few moments later the Emperor spoke. Sire Vanus was especially perplexed; how was there a language spoken by someone on Terra that he could not understand, let alone recognise?

“Anshin shite ritterubōi. Gai wa arimasen. Watashi no tokoro ni kite, nani ga okotta no ka setsumei shimasu .”

The boy looked around, wary of the other people gathered around the table, but still moved slowly toward the Emperor's open hand. The boy's hand was tiny compared to the Emperors, barely the size of one of His finger segments. The child wrapped his hand slowly around the middle finger of the Emperor, like a shy bunny that just learned how to trust his owner. But as soon as their hands touched the boy seemed to relax. The Emperor slowly pulled his hand back and the child followed without hesitation.

After he had crossed half the table, and was now sitting on the edge, the Emperor slowly put his other hand on the child's head. Another great golden light shone forth and the boy’s tears stopped.

The Emperor of Mankind, The Avatar of the Omnissiah, Slayer of the Void Dragon and Ruler of the Imperium, was comforting a small child as though he were a normal parent with his own son. Stroking the boy’s green hair, he said in a calm and comforting tone. “Shinpai Shinaide Kudasai, watashi wa anata o kizutsukeru senga, anata wo shibaraku noida sukoshi konran suru deshou. Tada watashi no tonari ni suwatte kudasai, soshite subete ga daijōbudesu."

The boy nodded and did as he was told. Sitting next to the Emperor, he silently watched everything around him with keen analytical eyes. That lasted a few minutes until a servo-skull flew by to serve Siress Callidius a drink. The boy turned pale as a ghost and began looking as though he would throw up. She seemed to notice this and was struck by a sudden wave of maternal instincts. She knew this child was vehemently uncomfortable, but she had to continue onwards with the meeting. The Master Assassins still had to flesh out what resources would be allocated to which temple, and what kind of training their new disciples would undergo. 

The meeting ended another two hours later with all the Master Assassins satisfied, though none more so than Sire Culexus. He was practically giddy that he had been granted a vitae-womb in order to produce the desperately needed Blanks for his temple.

“Now then, since we have finally finished our meeting I think we should address the green-haired and pre-pubescent elephant in the room.” Malcador said. Every Assassin’s eyes locked onto the child sitting next to the Emperor. The boy shrunk under the attention.

The Emperor spoke to him, “It is all right, young boy, none of us are intending to hurt you. In fact, we are all quite curious as to how you came to be here.” 

The boy looked up to the Emperor with big, curious eyes. “Why do I understand what you are sa—” the boy got less than half of his sentence out before loudly gasping. “How am I speaking your language? Could it be the work of a quirk? Could it have been thatgoldenlightthathetouchedmewithor _muttermuttermutter_.”

Sire Eversor cut the boy off harshly by slamming his palm into the table. “Enough!” he said, “Tell us immediately what happened in a calm and rational order!” 

The boy flinched at the sudden noise and the yelling. A squeaked “I’m sorry” came from him. 

Siress Callidus did not like that. This child was one of the purest creatures she had ever laid her eyes on, and she felt a deep-seated need to protect him. “Sire Eversor! You don’t need to be so aggressive! He is not an enemy, he is not dangerous, and he is still a small child.”

She then turned to him and with near-soft features said, “its ok. Just tell us what you know and we can try to piece together a picture of what happened, ok?”

The boy seemed to come out of his shell a bit more and nodded in agreement. “Uhm, ok. I think it started when I was shopping with my mom.”

**  
  
  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the translations of the Japanese spoken by Izuku and the Emperor. 
> 
> Izuku: What? Where am I? Who are you? Why do you look like All Might? What happened? Where is my mom?
> 
> Big E: Be at ease, little boy. We mean no harm. Come to me, and I will explain what has happened.
> 
> Don't worry, I will not hurt you, but you will feel a bit confused for a while. Just sit next to me, and everything will be ok.


	3. How It All Came to Be

Inko had always been a worrier. Being incredibly emotional seemed to run in her family. Her mother, her grandmother—even her darling Izuku seemed to have super soakers in place of tear ducts, launching into waterworks at the slightest provocation. 

Right now, she was the most worried she had ever been. How could she not be? Her darling, sweet Izuku had been caught up in a villain attack! They had gone to the Mustafu general market to buy some food for dinner when the convenience store across the street exploded. The villain had tried to take some hostages from the market and had holed up in an abandoned office building. She was so focused on getting her family out of the market that she hadn’t realized Izuku wasn’t with her. Now she was standing behind a police cordon around the building.

  
  
A villain with a pink and purple spiral pattern over a bodysuit held a terrified Izuku aloft in one of his hands. “Everyone back off or I'm gonna send this kid to hell!”

  
  
“Calm down, Blooper. My name is Kenji Tsuragame, I’m with the police. What are your demands?” the dog-headed man asked through a megaphone.

  
  
“500,000 yen in unmarked bills, and a car to get away!”

  
“All right, please stay calm; just don't hurt the kid.”

  
“And pull out that _bloody_ Hero that's sneaking around by the back door!”

  
  
The chief paled a bit as he heard that. He shakily raised his radio to his mouth. “Overload, he knows you’re there. Get out NOW!”

  
  
Static came from the radio, the police chef paling even more. “That goddamn idiot! I’ve told him a dozen times to never turn off the comms, and then he goes and does it anyways! I've had it with that idiot. I'm requesting the HPSC confiscate his license after this!”

Inko looked at the dog-faced man with fear and confusion in her eyes. “W-what does that mean? What is happening with my little baby?” 

The police chief turned to her. “Well, Mrs. Midoriya. I’m truly sorry to tell you this, but the Hero that’s been dispatched isn’t responding. We have no idea what’s going on inside that building.”

  
  
Inko nearly fainted at that, only to be caught by Hisashi, who angrily barked back, “WHAT? He’s just turned five, and you are telling us that you can’t get him back? Do you have any idea what you are doing to her? To me?”

  
  
Tsuragame gritted his teeth and looked straight into Hisashi’s eyes. “Sir, I'm well aware of what I'm saying. I'm sorry, but unless that idiot of a hero gets that he has to back off by himself, I can't do anything.” 

Both Midoriyas looked at each other, and then at the building that their little boy was held with apprehension. 

* * *

  
  


Inside the building, Blooper put the boy in a chair and began to tie him up. 

“All right, listen kid. I don’t really wanna hurt you, but I do need the money. All you have to do is to be a good kid and sit still. Got that?” the villain grumbled.

Izuku nodded as fast as he could. His preschool crime safety class had taught him to be silent. If he complied and did whatever the villain wanted until the police arrived, he shouldn't get hurt. He just had to wait, and then soon he could see his mom and dad again.

* * *

Climbing up the fire escape outside, Overload was giddy with excitement. Blooper was a moderately well-known villain with a string of robberies to his name. If Overload could take him down, his ranking would surely rise to _at least_ the mid-200’s. All he had to do was kick the villain’s ass, capture him without getting hit by his vanishing quirk, and boom! Instant fame! 

He nearly let out a giggle. _“Ok, let's see. My blood sugar levels are high, so I have plenty of juice to overclock myself. All I need is a distraction."_ He looked around the room. Some office chairs and desks, a large window, and the boy bound to an office chair as a hostage. 

“ _Hmm nothing that I can use to distract him—wait, are those marbles?”_ he looked closer at the ground by the boy. The boy was moving his fingers around, and with a slight glow from his palm was creating marbles out of thin air.

“ _That’s probably the result of his quirk; he’s probably really stressed and doing that to cope. If I can get Blooper to stand up and slip on them, he’d be out of commission, but I can't risk doing that unless I wanna fall too. I have to get him away from there. It would be best to distract him with a taunt and then strike from behind.”_

Overload picked up a coffee mug, peered around the corner, and waited for a bit before throwing the mug at the opposite wall. He activated his quirk, power surging in his veins as his entire body’s strength, speed, and reflexes were enhanced to four times that of a baseline human. The villain slowly came around the corner to check out the source of the noise. Overload had him right where he wanted. 

“POWER KICK” he yelled loudly and slammed feet-first into the villain’s back, throwing him away from the boy and causing him to face-plant into a desk chair. Pulling out a small knife, Overload quickly cut the ropes and freed the boy. 

“Run to the police,” was all he said to him, not even taking his eyes off the villain.

  
  
“Motherfucker!” Blooper screamed, “I told you to backoff!”

  
  
“Oh-ho? As if I would ever listen to a villain. Now be nice and come quietly.”

  
  
His answer was the chair that Blooper had smashed into coming flying towards him. “Oh shit—” was all he got out before he caught the chair. In the few moments between him catching the chair and him getting ready to fight again, Blooper had managed to close the distance and aimed his fist at his neck.

  
  
A grunt of pain came from his throat before it was cut off by a punch to the nose. A wet crack rang out with blood spraying out from his now-broken nose. Overload’s answer to the assault was a punch to Blooper’s solar plexus. 

They broke apart for a moment. Blooper tried to reassess the situation, and Overload caught his breath before refocusing on Blooper. 

The brief stalemate was broken by the sound of a door slamming shut, coming somewhere from the staircase. Blooper immediately realised that his hostage was gone and went after the child as fast as he could.

  
  
“Not so fast!” Overload jumped in front of him, only to jump back as a blue-colored ball of plasma was thrown at him. Blooper took advantage of the momentary pause and sprinted past him, vanishing the door to gain a few seconds on the escaping hostage.

“Stand still, you little bastard!! I need this money, and you’re the only thing guaranteeing I get it!”

“Mooooooooooommmmmmmyyyyyyyyy!!!!” Izuku screamed as loud as he could, tears streaming down his face. Running down the stairs and into the lobby of the office building, his heart soared as he saw the police officers just outside of the large glass door. Running as fast as his little legs could carry him, he ran to it, pushing it open and rushing outside. The double-doors behind him swung open, and Blooper sprinted out after him.

  
  
“Stand still you maggot!” Blooper screamed right behind him before having his feet kicked out under him, causing him to fall on his back. 

“Keep going kid,” yelled Overload, followed by “Oh fuck.” He dodged out of the way as another ball of plasma soared past him. As he dodged, he looked at the path of the energy ball and paled. It would hit the boy perfectly in the back.

* * *

  
  


Izuku was ecstatic! just a few more meters and he would be safe and with his mom and dad! Then something hit his back hard. He stumbled forward, and his entire world was swallowed up by feelings of falling.

* * *

  
  


Inko was distraught; her little boy had almost made it back. Then she saw him disappear, her heart dropping along with Hisashi’s. She had seen a few news reports on Blooper. His quirk [ **Warpblast** ] vanished whatever it hit from reality. She vaguely remembered the news anchors arguing about if the things hit by it actually _went_ somewhere, but she was in too much shock to care. Izuku, her child, _her baby_ , had just been sent to who-knows-where, if he wasn’t just dead. 

“Hisashiholdmeithinkimgoingtopassout—'' was all she got out before she fainted.

Hisashi’s reaction was the polar opposite of hers. His face was flushed red with rage, rage at the hero for dodging, rage at the villain, rage for the police, and most importantly, rage for that stupid reporter who was currently on camera talking about the “unfortunate but noble” sacrifice his son had just made. He tried to hold it in, but that desire lasted all of five seconds before he made up his mind.  
  
Stomping up to the prick who seemed to not even blink at the death of his kid, Hisashi yanked the mic from him.

  
  
“Unfortunately while he was unable to save the small child from the villain’s quirk, Overload was able to captu—hey wha—”

  
  
“SHUT UP!!!!” he roared “That “Hero” Just got my son killed. He could have blocked it with anything: a piece of paper, a rock, SOMETHING! But instead, he let my five-year-old son take a blast meant for him. Overload doesn’t deserve any praise; he deserves to be arrested! Overload’s not a hero, he’s the man who killed my son through his own arrogance and self-assurance.” 

Hisashi threw the mic at the reporter and turned around to take care of Inko. The reporter was left speechless, and the crowd that had collected from the fight quickly dispersed as a sense of deep shame overtook them. 

“Inko, sweete, it’s ok. It's ok,” Hisashi whispered over and over again, like a personal mantra. While the two were coping with what had just happened, the police chief stomped up to Overload, who had by now handcuffed the villain.

  
  
“Ah, chief,” Overload said with a self-absorbed smile, “Did you come to congratulate me?”

  
“Grit your teeth.”

  
  
“—Huh?”

_Slam_

The police chief hit him with a punch to the mouth, busting his lip and knocking out a part of a tooth. 

“You fucking idiot! I’ve told you a dozen times to never turn off your comms and you did it again! The government lets us pay any ransoms under 500,000 with tracked bills and a GPS beacon in the car. We would have had the kid back safe and eventually caught Blooper. But no, you had to be the big damn hero and get a little boy killed. I hope you’re happy with yourself. I’m asking the HPSC to revoke your license; you _will_ learn something from this.”

  
  
After his rant, Tsuragame picked up the villain. His face pale and gaunt, tears pooling in the corners of his eyes. He looked like he was in shock. He looked up at the Chief. “Didn't try to hit the kid.” Blooper pleaded. He looked battered and bruised, but anyone could see that he was sorry.

Tsuragame sighed. “I know, but that doesn't undo the fact that he’s gone. We might be able to get the charge knocked down to manslaughter, but you’re going to be punished.”

  
  
“...Can I tell the parents I’m sorry?”

  
  
“I don't think that right now would be a good time.”

  
  
“...”  
  


The two men continued in silence, and Blooper didn't resist when Tsuragamae put him into a police car.

The Chief let out a weary sigh. “Great, this means more paperwork and an investigation.” This was now _technically_ a murder scene that needed to be picked apart. 

“Ok guys, we have plenty of work to do. Mako, get the people out of here and try to get statements from the parents.”

“Sure thing, chief” 

“Tantako and Mizuma, you two go and lock down the building. I don't want anyone in there ‘til the forensics crew comes, get it?” 

“Yes boss.” 

“Understood.” 

Tsuragame sighed. “All right, let's go.”

* * *

Inko woke up a few hours later in a hospital bed. She briefly wondered why the ground was so comfy before thoughts came flying into her mind.

_Market._

_Villain._

_Izuku._

She shot up out of bed and began crying for Izuku. Hisashi immediately ran into the room and took a place by her side. “Inko sweety, it's ok, it's ok, you're safe, ok? You are safe, it's ok, everything is ok.”

She sobbed as everything came back to her. 

Her little boy was gone, completely and utterly gone. There wasn’t even a body left to bury. Inko grabbed Hisashi and cried a proverbial river into his shirt. Hisashi patted her back and rubbed calming cycles on it, muttering comforting words into her ear.

The two mourning parents were only disturbed by a knock on the hospital door. After a few seconds a man with a dog head and wearing a police uniform stepped in.

“On behalf of the Mustafu police force, I apologise,” the police chief said, bowing low. “We should have handled the situation better and not relied on a single hero. I'm aware that my words don't really help; I lost my daughter in a similar way.” 

He raised back up to his full height. “I still wish to offer my condolences. Losing a child is never easy.” 

The two stayed silent for a while before Hisashi said, “Thank you, but I think we’ve had enough for today. I hope you can forgive us for that.”

  
  
“Yes, of course. We’ll contact you should there be any new development in the case.” 

After they were discharged from the hospital, Hisashi picked up a rather unresponsive Inko, made his way back to their car, and drove home.

When they arrived, night had already fallen. Neither of them were hungry despite having not eaten since a late breakfast. They wordlessly changed into their respective pajamas and went to bed. 

Neither of them really slept, their dreams haunted by the green-haired ball of joy that the world would never see again. 

Hisashi woke up the following Sunday morning. Even though he had slept in, it was too quiet. The house was far too silent. He hadn’t even noticed how used he got to the pit-pats of little feet on wood, or Inko’s humming, or Izuku’s excited… everything. It was just—silent. Too silent.

As he got up, he noted that Inko was already gone. He found her in Izuku's room, sitting on his bed and reading through his hero notebooks. Since he hadn’t been able to write well—‘ _and now never will, dammit_ ’—Hisashi had helped him with the two books he had finished. 

Inko was just passively paging through them, reading them again and again. Hisashi merely sat next to her, looking over her shoulder, hugging her from the side and reading along with her. 

They were interrupted by a knock on their door.


	4. Red, Green and Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku's time in Warhammer, he meets a few people, learns a few things and causes a whole lot of diabetes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> word count before posting: 5050  
> word count after posting: 15650
> 
> jupp... 10600 words... next cap will come next year...probably.

“A-and I think that is everything,” Izuku finished, looking up at the incredibly confused-looking men and women from his seat next to the golden man.

“So... you were kidnaped by a ‘ _villain_ ’ that wanted to exploit some money from your government, were hit by his… ‘ _quirk_ ’ and then fell onto our table. Is this correct?”  
  
“Uhm... yeah?” Izuku was nervous. He didn't know these people, and he didn't know where he was, so he did what he had been taught: be nice, be silent, and only struggle if they want you to go somewhere with them. 

Siress Callidus was practically swooning over this adorable child. Her maternal instincts were kicking into overdrive. She desperately wanted to hug this green-haired child, but she knew touching a scared child could end badly, and she could absolutely not show weakness in front of the Emperor.

She had an idea.

“What now?” she asked. “What are we going to do with him, my lord? We can't possibly let him be alone in the palace; he could get lost or hurt. You said that we all would be interested in him, correct? Could I have my hands on him to determine his talent?”  
  
In reality, she just wanted to hug that fluffy ball of cuteness till he died. Then she would bring him back as a servitor, and hug him some more. 

After a bit of thinking, he answered. “You are right, Siress. We can't let him be alone, but at the same time I don't think it would be wise to hand him to any of you right now. You all need to build your respective temples, and he is still immature. Additionally, we may know _why_ he has appeared here, but even I am unsure as to _how_. He will remain under my watch until such questions are answered.”

‘ _Damnit!_ ’ she cursed internally. _  
_  
“You are wise as always, my lord,” she said, bowing her head to hide her look of disappointment.  
  
The Emperor turned to the child sitting beside him. “Young Midoriya, I know that you are not going to trust us just because we tell you to, so I won’t ask for that. What I will instead ask for is to let us help you. You don't know where you are, you don't know who we are, and you don't know how to go back home. Let us help you with those questions.” 

“Uhm...I—I wanna know something first.”  
  
“Go ahead. Ask any and all questions you have, I will answer them as well as is necessary.” 

“W-why do you look like a-All Might? Where e-exactly am I? W-who are these p-people? And is that floating sk-skull over there real?”

There was a brief pause before a deep rumble shook the room. The masters needed a moment to realise that the Emperor, the Scion of Humanity— was _chuckling_.

“I look this way because your brain wishes me to look it. People see me as they expect a leader—a symbol—should look. You are currently on Terra—or Earth as you would call it—in the year 803. M30. By your date system, this would be 29,803 AD. These people are members of a hidden circle that protects humanity from the evil contained in the wider galaxy. While I _suppose_ you could call them heroes, I would suggest against it. Finally yes, that floating skull over there is quite real, but don't worry—it is merely a very advanced form of a roomba.”

He chose to leave the information that the “roomba” had once been a human out. No need to traumatize the young child so early.

Midoryia Izuku was silent for a moment, pondering over the questions.  
  
After a few seconds, Sire Vanus picked up a very low and consistent audio signal. He turned on his audio preceptors and focused them on the child. A rapid stream of what _seemed_ like Gothic was spewing out of him almost as fast as the Tech-Adepts of the Mechanicum spoke their binaric. He could only listen in amazement as the child mumbled to himself.

“Blooper’s quirk must not have been a disintegration quirk, but a teleportation quirk that worked by opening a dimensional hole in the fabric of space. That also should include a way for me to return, but I don't know any potential triggers. Maybe I need to replicate the events that lead to me being thrown into here, but how do I do that? I can't do it on my own. So I would need someone with a similar quirk. Do quirks even exist here? Where should I start looki—”  
  
Sire Eversor once again stopped the mumble storm with a palm to the table. “I said it once already, speak loudly and clearly! Not everyone can read minds, child.”  
  


“W-what is going to happen with me?” he squeaked. 

Everyone in attendance was a bit taken back by that question. How could a small child just accept that he probably is never going to get back home? Even more importantly, how could he stay so calm whilst doing so?

The Emperor stroked his jaw in thought. “As I said before, I will personally take care of you. My team of researchers and I are going to figure out a way for you to return, although it may take some time.” 

He stood up and looked down upon the child. “In the meantime, I will show you where everything important is before I tell the science team about you. Don't worry, I will leave you in the care of one of my most trusted and loyal subjects: Shield-Captain Kittonious. He may be a bit strange, but his personality is a perfect fit for you.”

Izuku looked up at the man—and looked up and up and up. He could barely make out the face of the golden giant towering over him. 

His face was almost, but not _quite,_ All Might’s. His hair was brown and flowing instead of yellow and spikey, and the smile was smaller, but still had the ‘everything is ok now’ vibe, but it was more personal, like it was just for Izuku and no one else. The eyes were a heavenly blue, not deep like the ocean but light like the sky. Izuku could barely see it and yet it was like he couldn’t get the image out of his head if he tried. 

_Hero_ , his brain told him. Nothing so far had stopped him from thinking that.

“Well then, will you come with me?”

His voice was smooth, clear and ringing like a bell in Izuku's head. He just knew that this man would never hurt him, not without a reason. He also felt oddly calm in his presence and trusted him like he trusted his mom.

“Yes.”  
  
“Very good, I apologize but I will need to carry you, as your legs are far too short to keep up with me. The palace is a very big building, so we will have to walk quite fast.”

Izuku's response was to lift his arms like any small child would with their parents. The Emperor picked him up and placed him in the crook of his right elbow. 

To say that this image was the pinnacle of cuteness, adorableness, and the very personification of fatherhood was an understatement in Siress Callidus’s eyes. The young child's smile was already blinding, but added to the shine of the Emperor? She was sure she could have died without any regrets.

“I will be taking my leave now. I expect great results from the Officio. Show me that my trust in you was not misplaced.” 

“Yes SIR!” came from all master assassins in the room.

The Emperor walked out of the room after giving the sign of the Aquila—or as well as he could with only one free hand. He turned his head to the small boy cradled in his arm. “Now then, Young Midoriya, let me show you around my palace.”

“Why call it a palace?”  
  
“I am the Ruler of Mankind, and as a ruler I need somewhere to rule from. So I had this palace built. It isn't truly finished, as I wanted one of my sons to finish it.” He paused a bit, thinking carefully over his next words. “He and his siblings are actually in quite a similar situation as you.”

Izuku gasped. “Did a villain attack them as well?”

The Emperor fell silent for a bit, clearly thinking how he should explain the Warp, Daemons, **Chaos** , to this five-year-old child from a different plain of existence. 

He decided to go the smart way, distracting him with something shiny. He turned the corner and entered the official palace grounds. While the Imperial Palace was completely functional, and was by a wide margin the largest structure on Terra, it was still a far cry from what he wanted it to be. When he found Dorn or Perturabo, he would have an architect worthy of the Title. Until then, normal humans would have to be his builders.

Upon seeing the brilliant gold and shining marble, the child’s mind was instantly taken off his questions and pulled into amazement for the hallway they were in.

The Emperor smiled to himself as Izuku marveled at the hallway, the pillars, and ornamentations decorating the walls, asking questions about their origins and meanings, which the Emperor all too happily answered, as long as it meant he didn’t have to answer the previous question.

“You didn't answer my first question.” the small boy eventually said. If anyone would have seen them, they could have sworn that the Emperor almost tripped.

“Well, you see Young Midoriya, that is a very difficult question to answer, so I don't really know if you are ready for the answer right now. I will answer this question once you are older, all right?”  
  
Izuku was clearly not happy with that answer, but he couldn't really do anything about it.

“Where are we going?”  
  
“To my throne room. Shield-Captain Kittonious should be there as well; he will take care of you when I can not.”

They had already covered a large distance and had turned more corners than Izuku could count up to. Izuku had a near-endless stream of questions and the Emperor was all too happy to answer. Eventually they came to something the Emperor called ‘Eternity Gate,’ the door to the throne room. The door was so massive that Izuku had to crane his neck to even see the center, nevermind the top. 

In front of said door was a man claid in ornate golden armor, holding a strange looking spear with some form of firearm embedded in the blade. He wasn’t nearly as tall as the Emperor, but at nine feet tall, he still towered over any adult Izuku had met back home.

The man bowed quickly before the Emperor. “Ah, my lord. You are back already! Has the meeting gone like you... wanted… to?”  
  


The man stuttered into silence as his eyes fell onto the green-haired child that was sitting in the crook of the Emperor’s elbow.

“My lord forgive me... but who is this… child?” he asked with suspicion. 

“This, Kittonious, is Young Midoriya. He is my personal guest until we find a way to return him home. Treat him with respect and care.” 

“Of course my lord. But, what do you mean ‘to return him home’?”  
  
“Kittonious, Young Midoriya is not from Terra. Strange tides of fortune have brought him here from faraway. I ask you to answer any and all questions he has. I will inform the Fabricator-General of the Mechanicum in the meantime. We are going to need Mars' help if we wish to return him to his home.”

He set the boy on the ground and bid his goodbyes.

The pair watched as the Emperor rounded a corner and disappeared from view. When he left, there was a pregnant pause as a rather uncomfortable silence filled the air around the pair. 

“Sooooo” Kittonious began. “Where exactly are you from?”  
  
The small child thought about his answer for a few long seconds. “I think from a different dimension, as far as I know.”  
  
 _“That was… not the answer I was expecting.”_ He made a mental note to ask his Lord what the child meant by that. “And what do they call you?”  
  
“My name is Midoriya Izuku, who are you?”  
  


“Shield-Captain Kittonious of the Adeptus Custodes. A honored member of the personal guard of the Emperor.”  
  
“Do I have to say all of that?” Izuku grimaced at the thought. Despite the language being directly implanted into his mind via the Emperor’s psychic powers, names and complex sentences were still quite difficult to work through.  
  
“No, you can call me Kittonious.”  
  
“Kithonis.”  
  


“No, it’s Kittonious.”  
  
“Kittonion.”

“Kittonious”

“Kittonius.”  
  
“Are you doing this on purpose?” Kittonious asked, slightly agitated.  
  
“I’m sorry, names are really hard,” Izuku answered with a meak tone.  
  
“Well then, call me what you can.” 

Izuku sat down and thought for a few moments before looking the man in the face. The wings of the Aquila on the front of the golden helmet forming two triangular protrusions from the sides of his face. He stared a few seconds more before devolving into a giggling fit.

“Care to enlighten me as to what is so funny?” Kittonious asked.

  
“You look like a cat with that helmet. You’ve got ears and everything! Ohhh! I’m going to call you Kitten!” Izuku said with a gleeful tone.  
  
Kittonious opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water for a few moments before he sighed, accepting that his battle-brothers were never going to let him live this down.

“Do you have any questions his lordship hasn't answered already?” 

“Where am I going to sleep? Is there a library where I can read about stuff? Is it true that there is a city on the moon?” Izuku immediately rapid-fired his questions. Kittonious was slightly taken aback before he composed himself.

“You are going to, most likely, live in the upper segments of the palace. The Librarius Imperialis is currently still under construction, but I have a few books in my quarters that I can give you. And yes, Luna _is_ colonized, but it’s primary purpose is a massive defense installation to protect Terra.”

Izuku was amazed. The Emperor had told him that the upper segment was where the important people lived, and that living there was considered a great honor. Add in the fact that there was a _fortress_ on the _moon?_ This place was incredible, like one of those science-fiction movies he had watched with his dad.

He was also glad that he could read about stuff. He may not have been able to write very well, but he was an excellent reader. 

His mind quickly fixated on the final thing that Kitten had said. “Can I see the city on the moon?” 

His mind was filled with wonders. Could he see the fortress from the Imperial Palace? Would he ever get a chance to visit it? Was it gold-covered like the palace, or was it grey like the moon it occupied?

Kittonious scratched his cheek, making a high pitched noise as metal scratched metal. “I don't think you can see it right now. The moon has to be in the correct position above the palace to see it. The astronomers in the top spire might be able to tell you a precise date.”  
  
Izuku pouted and lowered his face in disappointment for a few seconds before quickly bouncing back and pointing at the spear Kitten was holding. “What is that? IS that a spear? Why do you use a spear if you have guns?” 

Now it was Kitten’s time to gleem. “This, Izuku, is what is called a Thunderspear. It is a Custodian’s personal weapon for both ranged and close ranged combat. As you can see, it is a spear first and foremost. But there is something special about it.”  
  
He pointed at the strange box attached to the spearhead. “Do you see this? This is what is called a ‘boltgun’. It shoots bullets around the size of two of your fingers put together. It works by...” Kitten kept speaking about his wargear and Izuku was all too happy to listen.

* * *

A long time later, The Emperor returned from his task of informing the Fabricator-General of the sudden appearance of Izuku, and found Kittonious sitting in front of his post with a sleeping Izuku curled up against his breastplate. Kittonious had removed his helmet and placed it on the ground. His brown-tanned skin and long black hair shone in stark contrast to Izuku's bright green locks and pale face. The hand-crafted handsomeness of the Custodian and the innocent cuteness of Izuku nearly overwhelmed the Emperor. The image looked absolutely adorable. He looked like an older sibling taking care of a little brother, and the view brought a smile to the Emperor’s face.

Kittonious noticed the Emperor but didn't stand up or salute to him as both his arms were occupied with Izuku, so he bowed his head as much as he could and greeted him in a hushed voice. 

“Welcome back, my lord. Izuku didn't want to leave without seeing you again. And I have to admit, he is a very interesting boy.”  
  
“Thank you Kittonious, you are as reliable as always. I will leave Izuku in your care when I'm too busy to do it myself. I hope he didn't bother you too much.”

“No worries my lord. It was a joy to be with him.”

Kittonious carefully handed the snoring Izuku over to him before standing up and resumed his duties. The Emperor gave him a brief nod and then made his way to the quarters Izuku would occupy whilst he was stuck here on Terra. 

The Emperor could still see the gleaming optics of the Fabricator-General when he told him about Izuku. He hoped against his better judgement that they wouldn't do anything _too_ harsh to him.

* * *

  
  


Izuku woke up in a very soft and comfy bed, he sat up yawning and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He looked around with sleep-crusted eyes; not recognizing where he was, he first started to panic thinking he had been kidnapped. Thoughts flooded into his brain, disjointed and urgent.

_Shopping_

_Villain_

_Portal_

_Table_

_Emperor_

Izuku rubbed his face some more and groaned. _‘Right, that happened.’_

He looked around the room and took account of everything. A table with a chair in front of it, both made out of wood with beautiful carvings in them. A door, slightly ajar, leading to the bathroom. A large dresser and an even larger wardrobe, also with carvings in them. A floating skull, a— _a floating skull_? 

Izuku blinked, then rubbed his eyes, looking at the morbid creation again with eyes as big as saucers. 

The skull suddenly beeped and spoke in a garbled text-to-speech voice, **“Please get dressed and then follow this unit to the dining hall. You are expected at a meeting with the Emperor in 43 minutes 56 seconds.”**

Izuku threw away the covers and made his way to the bathroom. He didn't know if he should get ready or throw up first. He decided to ignore the fact that a human skull was hooked up to a speaker and engine and hopped into the shower. After calming down and getting dressed, he followed the skull around a few corners to an elevator. They entered it and the skull extended a small robotic arm, tapping a button for a floor that was too high for Izuku to reach. 

The elevator lurched into motion and accelerated faster and faster. Izuku felt heavy as he was pressed into the floor. 

The elevator stopped as quickly as it had ascended. Izuku felt as if he had just ridden a roller-coaster. The doors opened up and he was greeted by Kitten, Thunderspear in hand and helmet on.

“Ah, good morning Izuku, I hope you slept well! Follow me to the dining room; our Lord is expecting both of us soon, and it could take a while.” The nine-foot tall armored man turned around and led Izuku down the hallway, with the flying skull ascending into a port in the ceiling.

Izuku walked beside Kitten as they made their way to the hall. Even before they reached the hall, the two could hear laughter, talking and a variety of other sounds.

They entered the hall and were greeted by over a hundred men in the same armor Kitten wore, though they all had removed their helmets. They laughed, talked, and joked with each other as they ate the food on the tables. Servants running to and from the tables formed a continuous loop of food and empty trays.

“Bahahaha, thats a good one, I— OH! Look who showed up! It's Kittonious, and... a child?” 

“Greetings, brother Karstodes. May I introduce you to Izuku? He’s a personal Guest of our Lord.”

“Oh? Well then. I welcome thee, Izuku! Come, and eat your fill. It’s not every day a mortal dines with any of the Custodians.”

Izuku shied away from the loud and boisterous man at the table, hiding behind Kitten's leg, peeking his head out and looking around the room. Kittonious noted that Izuku’s head barely reached higher than his armor’s knee joint.

“Look at him brothers! He’s quite cute—for a normal,” Another Custodian shouted from his perch, squating on the seat of his chair for some esoteric purpose. The outburst from brother Wamuudes caused many other Custodians to turn their heads and look at Izuku. Izuku tried to hide behind Kitten’s leg, obviously not enjoying the attention.

He whimpered, “Kitten, can we go please? I don’t want to be here anymore.”

Kittonious’ two hearts nearly broke at the pitiful sound of Izuku being scared. He looked to face Wamuudes. “Brother, leave him alone,” he scolded. “We are both expected by our Lord in a short while, and I believe that Izuku would like to not go without food until lunch.”

The other men at the table began to look sheepish, and the mood seemed to calm down as they turned their attention back to their food and small talk. 

“It is all right, Izuku. My brothers can be loud and noisy, but they won’t hurt you.”

Whilst Kitten sat down without effort, Izuku just looked at the table edge. It was higher than he was tall, to the point where he could easily walk underneath it. Kitten quickly noticed this problem, so he lifted him onto his lap and gave him a pat. “Just tell me if you want anything. I am more than capable of handing it to you.”

Izuku nodded and looked over the vast amount of food on the table. The sheer amount of food was breathtaking. Massive cuts of meat, bottles of some dark purple drink, sweets, loaves of bread the size of his entire body. He had never seen this much food in one place before.

Just the smell alone reminded him how hungry he was and caused his stomach to rumble loudly. He quickly pointed out to Kitten multiple things he wanted to try.

After Kitten put down his plate in front of him, Izuku noted that the silverware was far too big for his hands. Kitten also noted this, but before he could even stand up to flag down a serf, Izuku simply turned his wrist in a circle and a knife and fork appeared in his hand.

Kitten just blinked at that. “I-Izuku where did that come from?”

“Oh, uhm, I made it with my quirk,” the boy said with a sheepish expression.

That caused Kitten to blink again at that. “What is a quirk? Is it some form of psychic ability?” 

“Uhm, The Emperor said it's something like that, but not really. I don’t really know how to explain it, or even if the Emperor wants me to yet.”

Kitten slowly nodded at that before starting to eat. He was just a Shield-Captain, after all; who was he to question his Lord’s judgement?

Izuku marveled at the taste of the food.He had never tasted anything like this before in his life. He didn’t know bacon could taste this good! His father had once surprised him with a birthday breakfast of fire breath-cooked bacon, but this was leagues above that. The eggs were fluffy, but rich in taste, the—ham?—was juicy and firm. Everything was wonderful. 

After both had eaten, Kitten lifted him up and set him on the ground. “Now then, Izuku, ready to meet his Lordship?” 

“Mhm,” he hummed, still marveling at the aftertaste of the food. With full bellies and content minds, the two of them made their way to the throne room.

Izuku and Kitten passed through Eternity Gate, but something felt different to the young child. He had been near the Emperor the entirety of the previous day, so he didn’t notice the mental shift he felt when he stepped through the doorway. 

When he stepped through the massive door, he felt a wave of awe and calm wash over him, as though a golden light was shining through his very soul. He took a look at the Emperor, the brilliant shining beacon, and decided that this must be what it’s like to be in the presence of a hero. Maybe All Might didn’t have a psychic lighthouse shining from him, but he was sure this was comparable.

  
  


The Emperor seemed busy, shuffling through pages and notes, yet as the pair approached his desk, he looked up and greeted them with a smile.

“Ah, wonderful. You are perfectly on time, young Midoriya. Kittonious, you can return to your post.” 

Kittonious bowed, gave the sign of the Aquila, and said his goodbyes to Izuku. 

Izuku watched the man leave the room and then looked up at the Emperor.

“Care to follow me young Midoriya?” he asked, gesturing with his head down a large corridor.

“Emperor, w-what is this all about? W-why’d you ask for me?” Izuku asked, wide-eyed and full of questions.

“I’m showing you to your room, Young Midoriya!” he smiled. “While I’m sure that the temporary accommodations were adequate, I have prepared a more permanent place for you to stay quite close to me. To pass the time until my science team can take a look at you, I have prepared data-mediums for your viewing pleasure."

He looked at the young child with a smirk. “Since you are only five, I was unsure of your reading level. If you want, I can exchange them for books. They are mostly about history and culture, though there are some about other subjects as well. I am unsure how long you will be here, so we should use the time to get you accustomed to our world.” 

The Emperor led the way to a room right next to his own. It was dwarfed by the Emperor’s personal chambers, but was still bigger than Izuku's entire apartment back home. Covered in gold ornamentation and eagle emblems, it was every bit as pompous as the hallways and other rooms. 

Near the back of his new room stood a desk with similar ornamentation as his bedroom, a stack of books and electronic tablets already on it. Izuku wasn't sure if he should be happy about its size or worried. It was just as tall as he was.

“If you need anything just press the button to the left of the door, and one of the... roombas will come and take your request. I will be in my own room working, as I still have a lot to sort out before I can really help you. Additionally, my Fabricator-General is busy as well. I estimate it will take a few weeks, if not months before he has time for us. Don't worry, I told him to make time as soon as possible.”

The Emperor left out that Kelbor-Hal was near giddy with excitement when he received the information about Izuku, already mummbeling out plans and experiments he would perform on the boy.

As Izuku rounded the table, he saw a little stepping stool for him to get up into the chair. Even the furniture designed for normal humans was ever-so-slightly too tall for him. After sitting down, he picked up the nearest date-slate and tapped on it, the screen lighting up with a quiet hum and showing several data folders on its screen.

Izuku blinked in recognition. “It’s just like Mom’s tablet at home,” he mused. Tapping around a bit, he figured out that there was a form of internet—if you could call it that. The ‘Noosphere,’ as it was called, was full of weird symbols: 0’s, 1’s and gibberish text data. Izuku decided that it could wait until he got bored with reading or watching whatever it was that the Emperor had prepared for him.

He exited the Noosphere and opened a random folder. In it were dozens of videos, text files and audio files. He clicked on one that drew his attention, titled: The Unification Wars.

The data-slate lagged for a solid few seconds before it opened the file, Izuku watched as the scroll bar on the right side became smaller and smaller.

“...That's a lot of stuff”. 

Before he could even start to read, he was startled by a voice from behind him. “Ah yes, that particular record is quite lengthy. I don't think that you should start with that one.”

Izuku twirled around and came face to face with Siress Callidus.

Out of her black bodysuit, she was dressed in considerably more casual clothes then when he had first seen her. She had ruby eyes, a rather round face, and something like a button nose. Her red hair was styled in a tight ponytail that reached about the middle of her shoulder blades. 

“I’d advise you to start with the ethics or the laws of our Imperium before you start with our history; it will make it easier for you to understand why we do what we do.”

“W-what do you mean?” He was slightly terrified of her. When he first hit the table, the murderous look she had given him had seared itself in his mind. Sure, she looked nice and kind now, but Kaachan’s meanest look couldn’t hold a candle to her.

“Well, I suppose that compared to your world, we aren’t quite as—kind?” she said, asking herself more than answering the question.

Izuku blinked and tilted his head at that, the action causing her to let out a very strange high-pitched noise. Why did every adult who saw him do that make the same noise?

He was silently questioning what that noise exactly was. Was it a coo or a swoon? a woo or an awww? It was like several different noises all blended into one.

She then reached out and fluffed his hair like his dad liked to do, then mumbled something about it being unnaturally fluffy.

Izuku finally decided to draw her attention off of himself. 

“Uhm... why are you here?”

“Ah yes, I almost forgot!” she exclaimed, finally stopping combing his hair and taking out a book from within her greatcoat. She handed it to him and with a bright smile looked at him.

“Here. I can only give you this book for now, but I think it will help you. I have plans for you, you wonderful child.”

Izuku took the book and looked at the title: _Reading Gestures to Read People_. 

He was puzzled; why would she give him such a book? As he looked up to ask, he was surprised to find that he was alone in the room. He couldn’t even make out where she had gone.

He turned around and picked the Data-slate back up from the desk, looked at the opened file, and exited it, then searched for one that looked like it had something about ethics or laws in it. 

After a lengthy time spent searching, he finally found one. A data entry with a very unspecific name: _Imperialis Doctrina._ He opened it and began reading.

Hours passed by in moments as he read and watched. The outlawing of AI after the Men of Iron’s revolt, the Imperial Tithe system, how the Imperium deals with rediscovering planets lost during the Long Night, and the various reasonings for why alien empires were being exterminated on contact all took hundreds of pages and multiple hours of video apiece to explain. 

He was rather rudely interrupted from his reading by a heavy _thunk_ from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see the scary man from yesterday, the one with the skull helmet that had yelled at him.

The man’s voice was as gruff as he looked at Izuku. “So, you're the child our Lord has deemed so damn important, huh? Give me your arm.”

Izuku froze before the man rudely grabed his right arm and started poking and lightly pinching his biceps. 

“Hmph,” he grunted. “Not bad, but you're still far too young to be of any use to us yet. Our Lord was right; you still need to grow. Maybe one day you can be useful to him and pay back his generosity.” 

With that, he stood back up, turned around, and jumped up and into the ventilation shaft he had come from. 

Izuku stared at the ventilation shaft for a fair amount of time until he was sure the man wasn't coming back, then he hesitantly turned back to his data-slate. 

_“When the first wayward human colonies were brought into the fold of the Imperium of Man, it became clear that human societies had taken a wide form of cultures and hierarchies. As a result, no single governmental model would work for every single planet that would eventually encompass the Imperium. So, a compromise was made—the Senatorum Imperialis. The governing—”_

Izuku heard yet another banging noise from behind him. He sighed and turned around to see another man standing under the shaft. His plain, unassuming features were hard to see in the low light of the room. Cradled under his arm was a skull-like helmet. It was—different somehow—from the mask worn by the previous intruder. Rather than glowing red eyes sunken into a simple helm, a large amount of machinery and lights were studded across the helmet. Large, almost impossibly so, tubes and lenses were scattered all across the skull-visage.

“Can I help you?” Izuku asked, confused as to why the man was staring at him without uttering a word.

“Erm, ignore me. I just wanted to have a second look at you.”

The man leaned against the wall and squinted his eyes as he studied Izuku, clearly trying his hardest to get a good view without coming closer. Izuku blinked, stood up, marched over to the man and held out his hand for a handshake.

The man looked shocked, blinking rapidly and letting out several ‘huh’s’ and ‘um’s’ while Izuku stood in front of him with his hand stretched out. 

The man looked owlish at the boy, then at the hand, and then back again. 

“My arm is getting tired. Do you wanna introduce yourself or not?”

Izuku didn’t think anything special about his question; his mom and dad had raised him to be polite to strangers, especially adults. He just saw that the man was acting strangely, and wanted to alleviate his fears.

He had no idea how foreign genuine kindness was to a Blank. With no psychic presence to speak of, Izuku felt none of the irrational hatred every single human had towards a Blank when they were nearby.

Sire Culexus was in shock. Not only did the child not show any hesitation, he actively approached him and held out his hand. Sire Culexus was used to being cursed out or stuff being thrown at him, or the cold discomfort from people who were aware of the effect he had on them and took steps to negate it. Never ever in his life had he thought that someone’s first reaction would be to get close to him on purpose. 

This little gesture had completely and absolutely floored him. He teared up and instead of just shaking his hand, he grabbed Izuku and gave him a hug whilst sinking down on the ground. 

“Thank you. Thank you. Thankyouthankyouthynkaou.” his speech quickly dissolved into gibberish. Izuku couldn't make out but he hugged him back nonetheless. 

This caused the man to cry even harder. 

They stayed like this for an unknown amount of time until the man managed to calm himself down and not just return to crying. 

“You are a good kid. I'm going to make sure nothing will happen to you, at least until you can defend yourself.”

“Uhm, okay?”  
  
He stood up and ruffled his hair before he turned around and climbed back into the ventilation shaft.

Sire Culexus secretly swore an oath of moment to protect Izuku, a rule that every single one of his students would have to follow, even if it will cost their lives.

Izuku stood incredibly perplexed, wondering if that was normal or not. He chose to ask Kitten about the man later at lunch. Once more, he picked up the Data-slate and continued reading, yet a mere few minutes later the door opened and Kitten came in, taking him to lunch and then again into the room to meet some more people.

‘ _I wonder if this will become my new routine?_ ’ he thought to himself as he followed the golden giant into the meeting room.

* * *

‘ _Guess I was right,’_ he thought, as he crossed off a new week on the calendar he had been given.

Six months is a very long time for a child, especially in surroundings as unfamiliar as the Imperial Palace. Izuku was now well-known throughout; both his shining personality and the fact that he was a guest of The Emperor had made the rounds. He knew the important areas of the palace like the back of his hand, and he had become the unofficial mascot of Kitten’s Shield-Host.

Kitten still insisted on accompanying him, not that he minded. He liked Kitten; he was something like a _very_ big brother in how he cared for him. The Emperor often took time late at night to check up on Izuku, and Izuku would occasionally slip up and call the Emperor ‘Father.’ The first few times he said it, Izuku felt as though he would nearly die of embarrassment while the Emperor merely laughed. Gradually, Izuku stopped feeling embarrassment... until his Lordship called him ‘son’ as a joke.

Kitten wasn’t a medicae, but he was _reasonably_ sure humans shouldn’t be that shade of red.

* * *

“Young Midoriya.”

Izuku looked up from his data-slate, he had almost finished the second-to-last file on it.

“Yes Father, what is it?”  
  
“The Fabricator-General has just called and informed me that he has time to finally meet you. We should make haste, so as to not make him wait too long.”

“Okay, will I go and pack my stuff, or will a servitor do it?”

“A servitor has already packed your stuff and Kitten will accompany us. We will be leaving as soon as we can. In my own personal ship.”

Izuku stood up and grabbed the data-slate. He still planned on finishing the file on his way to Mars. Even after more than six months here, he was in utter disbelief at what humanity had achieved in the twenty-seven thousand years since his own time. 

But he had gradually come to accept it. He firmly planned on trying to make some tech on his own if he ever returned home. ‘ _It isn’t like there’s a Tech-priest to stop me there,’_ he thought, still remembering the ‘lesson’ (screaming) one of the adepts had given him when he had seen what Izuku had done to a servo-skull. 

They boarded the golden ship, the Bucephelus, and made their way to the bridge. Izuku was a tad bit nervous, as he had never flown himself, but both Kitten and Father were by his side, so he calmed himself. When he sat down in his seat, he noticed there were two more guests of the Emperor.

Sire Vanus and Siress Callidus had both asked to come along. Sire Vanus had given the reasoning of studying Izuku alongside the Fabricator-General, as he was incredibly fascinated by him. Siress Callidus did not give an exact reason, just that she both wanted to be close to Izuku and needed to talk about a certain weapon for her order with the Fabricator-General. 

The ride on the ship was rather short, just a few hours of travel in normal space before they were landing on the surface of Mars. Izuku was amazed. He knew that most ships were able to travel at close to light speed, but experiencing it for himself was a completely different matter.

As they disembarked, a being more metal than man walked up to the landing ramp to meet them. While his face was nearly unblemished by augmetics, his torso and limbs looked more at home on a death robot from one of his dad’s science fiction movies than on a man.

**“Avatar of the most holy Omnissiah, I welcome thee to our world. I have already prepared a laboratory to test the child.”** His glowing green cameras zeroed in on Izuku, scanning and analysing him. **“Follow me, child, and I will make sure to return you home safely.”**

The man was surrounded by a veritable swarm of servo-skulls, as well as an entourage of red and grey-robed Tech-priests. While Izuku knew that those were Magos Biologis and multiple different kinds of Tech-priests, it was still a bit intimidating to see that many in one spot.

“Thank you, Kelbor-Hal, for offering some of your precious time for this matter.”

**“There is no need to thank me, oh Emperor; it is an honor to study someone from a different plane of existence. I am already excited about all the data we will procure. The possibilities are nearly endless!”**

Both Kitten and Izuku grimaced at that. 

**“Now then, child, shall we start with the tests?”**

Izuku, knowing that he didn't really have another choice to go back home, went with the man-machine. 

* * *

It started off simply enough, but as soon as the Magi saw Izuku use his quirk out of boredom, the tests very quickly went from analyzing his biology, to quirk analysis and observation.

**“Interesting, highly interesting,”** the Fabricator-General mused to himself, scratching his chin with one of his metal tentacle-like mechadendrites.

“What is it, sir?” asked Izuku.

 **  
****“It appears that the process you call** **‘Motion Creation’** **uses the rotational energy of your joint to create a miniature Big Bang, then subconsciously chooses what atoms to use from that and then in what order those atoms are placed. In short— you create matter out of virtually nothing. I have never seen a process like this before, mechanical or otherwise.”**

The man fell silent for a while reading and rewatching the pict-feed that had been taken of Izuku's wrist. 

**“I do have a question for you, child.”**

“Uhm, yes?”

**“Does this ‘quirk’ only work with your wrist and fingers, or does it work with other joints as well?”**

Izuku blinked and stared at the man, then he facepalmed. He had never thought to use a different joint than his wrist to use his quirk; the idea had never crossed his mind. He, the kid who wrote two books full of quirk analysis, never thought of analysing his own like he does with others.

After recovering from his internal struggle, he looked at his right arm, turned his elbow in a circle and a much bigger ball appeared in his hands. This one was about the size of a honey melon rather than a soda can. Immediately after that he turned his arm around his shoulder and a watermelon-sized ball dropped from his palm. 

Both the Magos and Izuku were silent for a while at this revelation. Kitten turned his helmet’s audio receptors off and stood in the corner, knowing full well the mumblestorm that was coming. He had heard them brainstorm quite a few times by now, and desperately wanted a break from the crazy babbling the two would devolve into. It was almost scary how similar they were; it was almost as if they were the same person.

Kitten was still unused to mortals, but he was sure that it wasn’t normal for two people to finish each other’s sentences. 

* * *

Kitten was intrigued by some of the tests the two had come up with so far. He wondered what was next. Maybe testing his limits? If he was limited to simple things? If he could make complex machinery?

Well, sometimes Kitten didn't like to be right. They didn't just do one of those things. 

They did all of them.

In order.

With measurements. 

And calculations.

Using blueprints.

* * *

Izuku barely noticed another four months going by; he was far too busy with testing the limits of his quirk. So far, the Mechanicum knew that he could create almost anything, with his limits being size, speed and his own knowledge. While he had gotten marginally faster, he couldn't really do anything against the size limit, as it was dependent on the joint he used. The Tech-priests had tried everything they could think of to increase it without an additional joint, but so far nothing had worked.

Last was his knowledge base. As long as he knew how something was made, he could create it, but many more complicated things, such as electronics, were beyond his understanding. However, this did not stop the Tech-priests from begging him to make spare parts.

Izuku let out a sigh as he looked at the calendar on the wall. He had been here for more than ten months by now. He really missed his mom and dad, Kacchan, Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru. Sure, Father and Kitten were nice to be around, but it wasn't the same as his family. 

At least Kelbor-Hal’s experiments helped distract him. Even after four months worth of experimentation, they were still far from done. He had steeled his resolve, as every day testing was a day closer to potentially going home. 

“Izuku, is everything all right?” 

Izuku shook himself out of his thoughts. “Hmm? Oh, yeah Kitten, I was just thinking about my mom. I really miss her.”

The oversized man sat down next to him and put one of his massive hands on his back.

“Well that is good.”

Izuku was perplexed. “Why is it good that I miss her?”

“That shows you have not forgotten her. It shows how much you love her and how important she is to you. It also shows that, despite everything, you still want to go home.”

“Why wouldn't I want to go back home?” Izuku asked curiously.

“Well, sometimes people forget where they came from, like a hermit crab. Once they have found a new home, they settle down and forget their old one. And then they get hurt when they go back to their real home.” 

Izuku hummed at this, still impressed at Kitten’s wisdom. 

“And what should I do to make it go away?” 

“You don’t.”

Izuku balked a little at that. “I don’t?”

Kitten tilted his head forward, a piece of body language that Izuku knew meant he was smiling underneath his helmet. “No, Izuku, you don’t. You should use that pain as motivation. Use it to drive you ever onwards and to go further than you have before.”  
  
“So—Plus Ultra?”

Kitten looked at him, then barked his baritone laughter. “If you want to call it that, then yes, go ‘Plus Ultra’.”

Izuku digested this, then stood up and smiled his gigawatt smile. “You’re right; the more I test, the sooner I can eventually go home.” He gave Kitten a big hug, even though his arms didn’t _quite_ wrap around his leg. Then he rushed off back to the Fabricator-General. 

A fond sigh escaped Kittonious. “I will surely miss you if you leave, Izuku.”

* * *

Kalbor-Hal was once again rewatching the veritable mountains of data the Mechanicum now had about the boy. The boy was an absolute enigma; his body resonated on an entirely different wavelength than either the material universe or the Immaterium. He wasn’t just _resistant_ to psychic forces, he was _immune_ to them. The energy just redirected itself around him. During one of the tests, a sanctioned Psyker was brought in and fired a psychic fireball at young Midoriya Izuku. It just ricocheted off and exploded a Servo-skull instead. While he could be affected by psychic powers on the level of the Emperor or Malcador the Sigillite, neither had any desire to potentially harm the young child.

Three soft knocks on the door to his study drew his conscious attention away from his data-slate. Without looking up, he sent a signal through the Noosphere to open the door.

Izuku stood in the doorway, slightly out of breath. He paused for a second before taking eager steps towards the man-machine. 

“What tests are still left?”

The Fabricator-General noticed that the boy was more determined than he had been before. His vital signs were elevated, and a higher level of endorphins were present in his bloodstream. **“We still have not taken any tissue samples. We need to test just how different your genome is from a baseline human. Then, we should test if your ‘quirk’ functions differently in different environments, and if there is anything that could stop you from using it.”**

Izuku seemed to think about it for a moment. “Then let's do it.” 

**“Certainly. Which one do you mean?”**

“All of them.”

Kelbor-Hal smiled. _“This child is a true gift from the Omnissiah.”_

* * *

The Magos Biologis had run into a roadblock. Even with all the various tissue samples of Izuku, they were unable to reproduce the effect of his quirk. In a fit of desperation and borderline tech-heresy, they had tried true cloning, but even that failed as all clones were born brain dead. If the clones were turned into servitors, they couldn't use the quirk either. Despite the promise of valuable information, the clones were terminated by order of the Emperor. He did not want facsimiles of his favored subject walking around.

* * *

Months of additional testing later, and the Fabricator-General and his men still didn’t have a way of sending Izuku back. Izuku was once more lethargic. He had already read all the files, watched all the videos and listened to all the audio tapes on the Data-slate he had been given. There was nothing to do anymore.

He let out a weary sigh into his rebreather, watching the sunset of mars and looking down on the busy travic of servitors, servo-skulls, and tech-priests. Even though Mars had been terraformed enough for unaugmented humans to be able to technically survive on its surface, the air was thin and full of pollutants.

Something exploded on the path he was watching. As he watched the fireball rise and disperse, he furrowed his brow. The spark of an idea ignited in his mind, growing into a raging inferno as it took over his every thought. He slowly lifted his head out of the hand he had rested it on before he loudly yelled, “That’s it!”

He turned around and ran back to his test room, racing through the halls and corridors, turning corners and going down elevators. He burst into the testing room and scanned it for movement before running up to a high-ranking tech-priest. 

“Where is Kelbor-Hal?” he all but shouted at the man.

“Uhm—in his personal chamber. He is currently doing a maintenance check on his body.”

“Call him! NOW!” 

The poor tech-priest was clearly uncomfortable. “I can't interrupt the Sacred Ritual of Diagnostic and Repair; it would be a disgrace to the Omnissiah.”

“Fine! Just tell him it's something highly important.”

  
After that he sprinted out of the room and booked it to his. After arriving, he took out his comm-bead and put in the code for Siress Callidus. Foot tapping in excitement, he waited as it rang before she accepted the call.

“Hey Izuku, what is going on? You don't call me that often, is everything all right?”

“Can you give me the number of Sire Culexus comm-bead? It's important!”  
  
Izuku heard her hesitate for a moment. “Uhm, sure. What do you need it for?”

“I think I found a way to go back home.”  
  
Silence echoed across the connection, just as Izuku thought she had hung up her voice came back.

“Are you sure? What if something goes wrong? What if you get hurt?”  


“Then that is my problem, but right now I _need_ his help.”

Another long stretch of silence came from the bead, followed by a sigh.

“Fine. I’ll contact him and tell him you need his assistance.”

“Tha—”  
  
“But! I’ll come with him to make sure nothing bad happens.”

Izuku didn’t really like this; Callidius was a tad overprotective. While he appreciated the gesture, it got annoying fast when she tried to interrupt every other test, afraid that Izuku would somehow get hurt. 

“Just—make haste, ok? I need to know if I’m right.” After he said that, he hung up, not even saying goodbye. He knew that with her, the goodbye would last longer than the call.

Now all he had to do was wait. He filled the wait with ideas for the tests they could make, then after more than a half hour his comm-bead pinged. He checked the chain-code; it was from Kelbor-Hal. Placing the device in his ear, he answered.

**“Child, what revelations have you had?”** The Fabricator-General’s mechanical voice rumbled through Izuku’s ear. 

“Firstly, can you send me all the data we have about how the Immaterium affects me? Secondly, are you sure that there isn’t more to test about me and it? Thirdly, is there a Blank on Mars right now?” Izuku was insistent, and he was talking quickly enough that an unaugmented person would have struggled to understand him.

He was answered with a brief silence, before the data-slate pinged and the voice came once more, **“Give me but a moment, child.”** Another brief silence. **“Hmm, while there is no such being on Mars right at this moment, I can request one from Terra. But first, why do you need one?”**

Izuku already had scanned the Data once over. “I think we missed something in relation to the Immaterium.”  
  
 **“What do you mean?”**

“We’ve tested the effect of psychic powers on me right? What if _any_ psychic energy is forced away from me?”  
  
Izuku could practically hear how the man's computer brain ( _‘cogitator’, he reminded himself_ ) was going into overdrive. **“Are you implying what I think you are?”**

“Yes. Yes I am.”

**“I believe that the Omnissiah would be very interested in this test. I am going to inform him of this. Is there anything else you have come up with?”**

“No, not right now at least.”

**“Very well. We will test this theory of yours as fast as we can.”**

Not even two hours later, The Fabricator-General, Izuku, Kitten, The Emperor, Siress Callidus, and Sire Culexus as well as a very uncomfortable looking Blank were standing in the testing chamber. 

“Excuse me sir!” Izuku pointed at the Blank. “Please come over here and—be a Blank.” 

Kelbor-Hal cleared his throat before starting the test recording.

**“Test number 3643 ready to go.**

**Subject: Izuku Midoriya.**

**Purpose of Test: Effect of a Blank on subject’s body and/or quirk.**

**All sensors are recording and ready.**

**Subject, you can start at any time.”**

“All right. Creating a fifty-gram unit of ceramite. Three, two, one. Now.” Izuku turned his wrist. A short blimp of light came from his palm and the cylindrical block of ceramite appeared in his hand. 

He visually checked the block for deformation and, after finding none, he placed it on a plate, watching the weight go up and then stopping at forty-five grams. 

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone present took in the results. 

Then loud cheering erupted from Izuku. Keldor-Hal registered excitement from his emotional vaults and chose to experience the feeling. Just thinking about what this implied made him want to know more.

After cheering for a few minutes, Izuku took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. “Ok ok ok. Now for the real test. Sire Culexus, could you please switch places with him?”

The skull-helmeted man scratched behind his neck. “Uhm, sure, but I’m not sure what this should achieve.”

“We know that the Immaterium doesn’t really affect me, so I thought ‘what would happen if any psychic presences are removed?’ What if it’s gone? What if its effects are forced away?”

“But why me?” 

“You’re the only Blank I know.”

The man seemed to be deeply touched by this gesture and then smiled behind his visor. “Well, I'm happy to help you.”

“Hold on!” shouted Siress Callidus. “This is far too dangerous. The Arcane Eye of a Culexus is lethal to anyone, even if they aren’t psykers! You would surely be killed. Even if you don’t have a ‘soul’ as we think of it, this can’t be good for you. There must be another way!”

Yet before even Izuku could answer, the Emperor stepped in. “Siress Callidus, I would appreciate it if you could keep your emotions in control. I am well aware of how you feel towards young Midoriya, but remember, he has a family of his own, a family he wishes to return to. Sire Culexus, Young Midoriya, and Kelbor-Hal shall continue with the test.”

“Ok, is your ‘effect’ stronger than his?” Izuku asked.

“Yes. My Praiah gene is an active one, while his is passive. It's also the reason I'm wearing all this gear. The helmet acts as a nullifier, and keeps the effect to a manageable level.”

“Can you turn it off?”

“Are—are you sure?”

Without hesitation or fear Izuku answered. “Yes.” 

“Don't say I didn’t warn you.'' Culexus fiddled with a series of knobs on the side of the massive lens attached to his helmet, turning off his nullifier. Izuku felt strange; goosebumps erupted over his entire body and settled after a few seconds. He gave a signal to Kelbor-Hal.

**“Test number 3644 ready to go.**

**Subject: Izuku Midoriya.**

**Purpose of Test: Effect of a Culexus’ unrestrained powers on subject’s body and/or quirk.**

**All sensors are recording and ready.**

**Subject, you can start at any time.”**

Izuku began droning on in his ‘I’m saying something important’ voice. “When I was in close proximity of an active Pariah without limiters, I felt a strange sensation, the sensation went away after three to six seconds. Nothing else has been registered. Proceeding with a standard test. 

“Creating a fifty-gram unit of ceramite. Three, two, one. Now.” Izuku turned his wrist, a short blimp of light came from his palm and the cylindrical block of ceramite appeared in his hand. 

Yet compared to the previous one, this one isn't perfectly cylindrical. It was more like someone had tried to draw a cylinder while sitting down in a massage chair. The edges were all warped and the dimensions were off. Izuku stated as such in an audio report before placing it down on the same weight plate as the other probe.

With bated breath he watched as the cylinder was weighed. Thirty-two point six grams. An even louder cheer came from izuku and he jumped up and down with glee. He clapped his hands. For the first time since they had started more than half a year ago, something had affected his quirk. 

It took a few minutes for him to calm down enough to go back to testing. “Ok, uhm—can you—can you increase or focus this power you have?”

“Technically, yes. However, it’s only use is as a weapon. My Animus Speculum contains a function called an ‘Arcane Eye’. This takes people’s soul energy and fires it as a beam. I’m not sure how it would work, given that you don’t technically have a soul.”

“Does it do any physical harm?”

“No, not directly. Unless you count instant death as physical harm.”

“Hit me with it!”

All but the Emperor flinched at the directness of Izuku. Everyone knew that he wanted to go home, but they hadn’t thought he wanted to go home that badly. Before they could start a new round of tests, the Emperor interrupted them. 

“Young Midoriya.” All eyes were immediately drawn to him. “Before we start, I have something to give to you.” He walked over to the pair in the center of the room, then kneeled down on one knee to be closer to Izuku's level. “Can you give me your hand?”

Izuku was slightly perplexed at this, but still did as he was asked.

The Emperor put a matte black bracelet around his wrist. “This is a compacted data-slate. It contains an explanation about where you have been and what has happened until now. There is also an exercise regime on it that you should follow, in case that you either return to us or are going to be a ‘Hero,’ as you said.”

Izuku looked at the bracelet, then back to the Emperor. He thought about what this implied. “This means goodbye, doesn't it?” he said, looking up at the golden man with sadness in his eyes.

The Emperor smiled fondly at him and ruffled his hair. “Perhaps, perhaps not. Who knows? Not even I am sure what holds you in this universe. It could be that you bounce back into your world or that nothing happens at all, but it is better to be prepared for something than not. I believe it would help if someone else backs you up on the claim you are going to make.”

Izuku looked up and met his eyes, then slowly tried to hug him. The Emperor lifted him up and brought him to his chest, hugging the greenette softly. 

“I’m excited to see mom and dad again, but I’ll still miss you.”

“So will I.”

The Emperor looked over to the Fabricator-General and nodded.

**“Test number 3645 ready to go.**

**Subject: Izuku Midoriya.**

**Purpose of Test: Effect of a Culexus’s Arcane Eye fired on subject’s body and/or quirk.**

**All sensors are recording and ready.**

**Subject, you can start at any time.”**

  
  


“Creating a fifty-gram unit of ceramite. Sire Culexus will fire his weapon on the same count. Three, two, one. Now.” 

Izuku turned his wrist, a short blimp of light came from his palm and the cylindrical block of ceramite appeared in his hand. At that exact moment a beam of white light shot from Sire Culexus’s helmet-mounted lens towards Izuku. The beam struck him a fraction of a second after he created the unit of ceramite. 

Something strange happened. There was a brief bright flash of light, a noise that sounded like ‘glorp,’ and the high pitched plinking of ceramite hitting metal. Even as the noise from the ceramite faded, no one made a noise or even moved.

Izuku was gone.

A lot of emotions showed themselves very quickly. Whilst Siress Callidus was in a near state of panic and frantically searching for Izuku, Sire Culexus simply stared at the small cylinder. Kitten was staring at the spot where Izuku had been, unable to process what just happened. Kelbor-Hal was ecstatic about all of the data he had received in the split second of Izuku's disappearance. The Emperor had the calmest reaction to this; he merely humed and stroked his chin with a hand.

“M-my lord.” Kitten seemingly recovered enough to think again. “What-what just happened?”

“It appears, Companion Kittonious, that Izuku has gone home to his family.”


	5. Tears of Joy/A Cry of Confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all SO MUCH for 2K hits.

Tanaki Hanerou had been in the police force for a number of years at this point in his life. He was lauded by his colleagues as a veteran in crime analysis and forensics. There was almost nothing he hadn’t seen, even if you were to take quirks into account.

One of the few things he hadn’t seen was a victim of a murder case falling out of a hole in the air directly on top of one of his junior officers, knocking the man out cold before loudly complaing about the headache he got from it.

He was more than a little confused. After all, he was investigating this child’s murder scene. But there he was, healthy, a bit older than the on-file picture would suggest, dressed in some strange robes, and rubbing his head whilst complaining about the pain.

It took Hanerou a moment to get his bearings again, but then he quickly made his way to the boy. “Hey. Hey kid, are you perhaps Midoriya Izuku?” he asked, just to be sure that he wasn’t seeing things. 

“Úbi sum? Quid accidit? Nonne opus est?” 

Hanerou didn't understand what the kid said so he pressed once again, “Kid, are you Midoriya Izuku?” 

The boy went silent for a second then spoke up. His Japanese was broken, sounding more like a tourist rather than someone who lived here his whole life. 

“Yes, I am. Why are you asking? Where am I?” 

* * *

Izuku was a bit confused; why was this grandpa asking his name? Where had he landed? Could it be that the test had failed and he had been flung somewhere else? The man was speaking Japanese, so he  _ might _ be home. And by the Throne, why did his head hurt as if he had just headbutted Kitten’s breastplate?

* * *

“You are near the Orochi Mall, in Mustafu, Japan.” Tanaki Hanerou knew that if someone asked where they were they wanted to know as much as they could. 

The boy went deathly still, then looked at him and gave a little “what” under his breath.

If this  _ was _ Midoriya Izuku he would have been through some intense trauma, so Hanerou repeated what he just said. “You are near the Orochi Mall in Mustafu, Japan.” He kneeled down and carefully put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Do you feel sick? Are you hurt anywhere? How do you feel?” 

* * *

It took Izuku a bit to register the words. Mustafu, Japan. He was home. After the 3645th test, he had finally made it. He. Was.  _ Home _ . Tears burst from his eyes, and the officer immediately started to fret over him until Izuku beamed at him with a great smile. “I’m home. I’m home! I made it; I did it.”

Tears of joy streamed down his face and he did the first thing that came to his mind; he hugged the officer in front of him. The older man seemed to be overwhelmed by this, but quickly got his bearings back before he carefully lifted Izuku up. The man flagged down a couple of other officers, barked some orders and then sat Izuku down in the back of a police cruiser. The rest was a blur to him. 

* * *

Inko still couldn’t believe her little sunshine was gone. She hadn't even reacted to the policewoman coming to their home and asking questions. She just felt so  _ hollow _ . 

She felt barely anything. Her sleep had been filled with pictures of her little boy smiling and laughing, and now those were all that was left of him, along with the two books he had written with Hisashi’s help. 

The books were filled with badly drawn pictures of heroes. Some were using their quirks in the drawings while others were posing. He even had a section about her and Hisashi written. The kanji was sloppy and a bit hard to read at times, but it was  _ his _ handwriting, not Hisashi’s. 

She cried when she saw that, especially the text next to her picture.

Inko was drawn in her favorite green long-sleeved shirt with an apron and what looked like pans and spoons orbiting her.

“This is my mom. She is superduper nize and kind, she makes the best kasudon. She is the bestestes cook i know and i love her so much. Her -qurik- quirk is attri-atra- _ (the kanji  _ _ 引き付ける _ _ was heavily crossed out; apparently, he wasn’t  _ quite _ there)  _ Pull. she can pull small thing to her.”

The next page was about his dad, who was drawn to be almost comically buff. From his mouth came a big yellow flame. He was still in his business suit and looked like Izuku had simply given a drawing of All Might flame breath. 

“This is me Dad, hes super tall and likes to do bad yokes. hes not offten home but i love him very very much. He can breath fire but mom doesnt like it, she sais it is dangerus, he is very smrat and mokes lots and lots of muney.” 

Inko didn't really know how long she had been reading those two books. Morning came and went, and after the doorbell rang she had stopped paying attention. 

The only thing that got her out of that hole she was in was the policewoman in front of her and Hisashi. She vaguely remembered seeing her  _ there, _ but it was more of a blur than anything concrete. 

The woman asked a few questions about the incident, but Inko decided to ignore her, instead getting lost in her thoughts about her wonderful boy that she wouldn’t get a chance to see grow up. She was doing a pretty good job until the policewoman’s radio started to go crazy, and then Hisashi started to get all giddy and nervous at the same time. 

“...Are you really sure?”

“For god’s sake, YES! The kid that just knocked out Han is Midoriya Izuku. The little kid confirmed it, as did the doctor in the hospital he’s currently in.”

At first Inko thought the universe was playing a cruel joke on her. That changed after the fourth person said the same thing, and then Izuku’s voice came from the radio.

“Mom? Can you hear me?” A loud  _ thunk _ came from the radio—Izuku must have hit the receiver. “Hello mom? Dad? Anyone there?” 

Inko nearly tackled the policewoman off the chair she was sitting in, grabbing the radio and all but screaming into it.

“IZUKU!!!” Inko begged, a torrent of tears streaming down her face. “Where are you? What happened? Are you ok? Are you hurt?”

“Mom, is that you? Can you come to the hospital? And is Dad there? How long have I been gone?”

It took both the police woman, who had introduced herself as Mako, as well as Hisashi to get Inko away from the radio so that they could get more information. 

After a good ten minutes, the three of them were on their way to Mustafu General. Inko, being Inko, was a ball of anxiety and nervousness. She knew how far away the hospital was, but that didn't stop her from hogging the radio and talking with Izuku, as if trying to somehow make up for the lost day.

* * *

Inko’s thoughts raced at breakneck speed. Her little baby was alive! He was alive and well! But he sounded a bit strange; his speech was a little off and sounded like he was constantly growling. Deep rumbling noises came from time to time through the speakers. 

It worried her. Why did he sound like that? What had happened? Oh how she wanted to see him, hug him, hold him close, and make sure he never again leaves her side. 

  
  


The second the police car stood still, Inko bolted for the door of the hospital. She ran faster than she ever had in her life, making a beeline for the room Izuku was staying in. A corner, a flight of stairs, and a corridor later, she stood in front of the room, smashing the door open and flinging herself at the little green ball in the room. 

“IZUKU!” Inko nearly squashed him, she was hugging him so hard. The doctor and nurses took a step back, knowing better than to get in the danger zone of a mother in distress. The police officer in the room looked at this with utter confusion, since he had been busy asking questions and getting answers that didn't really make sense. What was a Tech-priest, or a Servo-Skull? And why did the boy keep switching between something that sounded like Latin and Japanese? Where had this boy been?

“I’m so happy to see you! Where have you been? What happened to you? Are you hurt?” Inko then let go of the almost suffocated Izuku and looked at him with that look only a mother can give. “Do you know how much I was worried about you?”

It was then when Hisashi finally came through the door gasping for breath. He hunched over, trying to catch his breath, before looking at Inko with a look of pure confusion on his face. “S-sweetie. *gasp* How-how did you *wheeze* run that fast?” 

The pair of greenets looked over to the absolutely out of breath man before Izuku shot out of the bed and slammed into his Dad, giving him the patented ‘crushing your rib cage'™ Midoriya style hug. Hizashi fell backwards onto his butt and patted Izuku’s shoulder as if he were a fighter tapping out. 

Izuku let go, dashing back to his mom and giving one to her as well. “I missed you so much,” he said. muffled through the hug.

Hisashi finally managed to suck air back into his lungs and made his way to Inko and hugged the two of them, kissing Izuku on the top of his head and holding him tightly, as if the second he let go Izuku would vanish again.

The three of them stayed like this for a while until the doctor cleared his throat. 

"Now that is very nice and all, but there are still some tests to do with the patent."

Izuku popped his face out of the hug and looked at the doctor. "You don’t have to do anything like that. Just give me a  _ cogiator _ —er, a computer, and I can show you what happened." 

The doctor looked at Izuku, lifted an eyebrow, and, with a shrug of his shoulders, gave him the tablet he was holding. Izuku tapped on the screen for a bit, then held the bracelet above it. The tablet's screen glitched before cutting to black.

Izuku didn't even seem fazed; he simply pressed the flat top of the bracelet and the tablet came back to life. But this time instead of the normal startup logo a golden, two-headed eagle appeared. 

It rotated in place for a few seconds before it blinked away and a massive number of files appeared on the screen. Izuku quickly scanned their names and selected the one labelled “ Show this to your parents. ” Izuku had to suppress a snort as he read it.  _ “Of course he’d name it something like that, as if I wouldn’t understand what to do.” _

He taped the file and a video opened up. Izuku set that tablet down in such a way that everyone in the room had a good look at it.

At first, all that was being displayed was the Aquila.After a moment, the video cut to the Emperor. He sat on his desk with his hands folded in front of him, clearly looking at the script he had prepared before looking up and into the camera. 

“Greetings, Mr. and Mrs. Midoriya, doctors, and civil officers. I am the Emperor of Mankind, the current Ruler of where Young Midoriya has been sent, but rather than ruling over a nation like your ruler does, I rule over all of Terra. I am recording this video because it is my priority to see Izuku home safe. Since you are seeing this, I assume that young Midoriya is well and healthy.”

He slightly bowed his head in greeting.  “At this point in time, it has been nearly three weeks since young Midoriya has appeared in my world. While I do not know how much time has passed in your world, I can only hope it hasn’t been too long." The golden man gave a slight, joyless smile.  “From one parent to another, I know what it is like to lose your children, what it feels like to suddenly see them wrenched from your arms.” Inko wondered what he had meant.

“Young Midoriya was rather lucky to land where he had. The galaxy is incredibly dangerous, and it is highly likely that had Izuku landed anywhere but my palace, he would have died very soon after arriving.”

Inko gasped and squished Izuku even harder while Hisashi looked worriedly at his son. 

“Which brings my attention back to the reason I created this video.” The Emperor shuffled a few papers around on his desk.  “Young Midoriya will make wild and unbelievable claims, and so I am here to confirm them. Humanity has spread across a vast area of the Milky Way galaxy, though due to various threats we are no longer a United Federation. We possess fantastical technologies that are beyond the capabilities of your planet to create, save perhaps through young Midoriya’s quirk."

  
  


He smirked into the camera. “ And for personal reasons, I have coated most of Terra’s architecture in gold.” ( _ Izuku let out an exasperated sigh at that joke. Hearing the Emperor tell it once was more than enough)  _ “ Young Midoriya has seen my Imperium with his own two eyes; give him the benefit of the doubt.”

As he spoke, the video showed several disjointed images from across Terra and Mars. Skittari forces marching across the Acidalia Plantitia on Mars, their metallic feet crushing the red rocks beneath them into dust. Scientists on Luna starting up a new plasma reactor, the blue glow reflected in their auspex lenses. The golden armor of a Custodes sparkling in the artificial sunlight of the Palace.

“My scientific team and I are all working to return young Midoriya home at the moment. As I am unsure how long the process will take, I cannot say for certain how long he will have been here before he is returned to you.” 

A serf handed the Emperor a missive before disappearing offscreen. After parsing the piece of parchment for a moment he resumed speaking. “ Young Midoriya's current medicae report is on a separate file on this device. There is also a *very* brief overview of Terran history, simply so you won’t be confused as Izuku re-learns Japanese words for things. Any questions about young Midoriya should be directed to him. He is, after all, an exceptionally bright young man. I merely hope I can return him to you in a timely manner.”

A serf handed him a new, much larger and more ornate piece of parchment from offscreen. The Emperor frowned at whatever it read before standing up.

“While there are many questions you undoubtedly have, something requires my attention. I wish you and young Midoriya a good day.” He gave the sign of the Aquilla before the video cut to black.

The room was filled with silence as the adults digested the information given. Izuku quickly grabbed the tablet once more and checked how much info was on it. While he was busy doing that, the adults quietly left the room. 

The doctor was the one who broke the silence. “Well—I think that takes care of the health checkup.” 

The police officer wordlessly pulled out the notebook where he had written down what Izuku had told him, and crossed out  _ possible mental trauma _ . 

Hisashi, on the other hand, was thinking furiously. He worked as a salaryman for a support company that dealt with I-Island and Detrenat, and he was incredibly interested in what he had seen. Spaceships, flying skulls, cyborgs and more had been shown, and who knew what else was on that thing. If there were blueprints on the tablet, he might not have to work again.

Inko sat quietly. She knew that this ‘Emperor’ hadn’t lied, yet she felt ashamed. Yes, everyone involved had thought that Izuku was dead, but she was his  _ mother _ . She shouldn’t have given up so easily. 

She was ashamed, ashamed of herself, ashamed that she had given up so fast and so easily. She took a deep breath.  _ ‘Never again,’ _ she thought. She would never again give up on her son, no matter how ridiculous his idea was, no matter how unreachable his goals were, and no matter what everyone else would tell her. 

She would never again let someone else tell her what she should think. 

So she opened the door and walked back to where Izuku was sitting on the bed, hugged him and patted his head. “I missed you.”   
  
Izuku stopped tapping the tablet and looked at her, his eyes still a little watery but smiling bright. “I missed you too, mom.”

* * *

The hospital room was abuzz with activity for the next few hours. Izuku transferred the medical data from the tablet to a printer and waited while the doctor went over it. 

Once the doctor had given them the all-clear, Izuku was taken to the police station. The investigation of his ‘death’ was still active and they had to do some major paperwork to change that. Hisashi also made some calls to his employers, telling them about the new developments.

* * *

Hakami Rezuko was sitting in the holding cell, nervous out of his mind. His hands and feet were restless. For the past day he had either walked around his cell tearing out some of his hair rubbing his hands together and massaging his wrists.

He had been in prison once and knew what kind of crimes got you what ‘punishment’ from the other inmates. The worst three were pedophilia, child trafficking, and child murder. 

It hadn’t surprised him that they all centered around kids; after all, most of the inmates had a bad family situation on the outside. Now he was on their shit list. And the worst thing? Shit had happend on TV. 

He would be lucky if he only lost his teeth while serving his sentence. If he was unlucky, well, the guards kept body bags on site for a reason. 

He let out a sigh and thought about how he could spin this so a bodybag wasn’t needed. Maybe blame the hero? The man  _ had _ lost his license, after all. Or should he beg the family to forgive him? Writing letters and hoping for an answer might keep the others off his back for a bit. 

Three knocks against the cell door disrupted his thoughts. “Rezuko, you’ve got a visitor” the guard barked. Blooper stood up and held his hands out of the cell. The cell itself had a metal toilet and sink, a very uncomfortable and smelly bed and a single small window. Feeling suppressor cuffs snap into place on his wrists, he stepped back and waited for the cell to open. 

When the door opened a single officer came in, grabbed him by the elbow and the pair made their way to an interrogation room. Once there, his ankles were chained down and he was left alone. 

The door opened again after a few minutes and the family of the kid came in. He sunk down in his chair a bit and swallowed. 

The mom and dad stood to the sides of the kid, and—wait,  _ THE KID? _

His eyes nearly popped out of his skull as he looked at the kid. Same green curls, same freckles, same eyes. 

The words stuck in his mouth. His mouth flapped open and closed like a dying fish. His breath got caught in his throat, the pressure building and building as his shock reached the breaking point. This cacophony of disbelief culminated in a loud “HOW” as he finally got a word out. 

“Your quirk doesn’t destroy, it's a sort of warper. So... congratulations? Your quirk allows interdimensional travel. I’m sure I-Island will do everything in their power to get their hands on you.”

“That doesn't answer my question!” 

The kid deadpanned. “If I told you how, we’d be here until tomorrow. But the short version is, you sent me to the right place at the right time and they managed to figure out how to get me back. That easy.”

Hakami was silent, then a huge weight lifted off him and he let out a deep sigh, sinking deeper into the chair. The visiting room intercom cracked and a voice said, “Time’s up, Midoriya family.” The kid jumped down from the chair, grabbed the mom's hand and made his way to the door that the Father held open. 

“Oh, and before I forget.” Hakami perked up, “We are dropping the murder charge. All you’ll have left is attempted robbery. And I’m sure that I-Island can help with that, provided you work for them like they asked.” With that, the door closed, and he was left alone in the room. 

Hakami’s world crumbled around him. Thoughts raced around his head, flying like bullets. His quirk was different than what he had believed for his entire life. He hadn’t actually killed anyone, and when he got out he was going to get a job at the most prestigious company on Earth. 

Needless to say, he didn't even notice when or how he got back into his cell. After the reality had finally sunk in, he started to cry tears of relief and joy. 

He had always wanted to be a doctor or scientist when he was younger, but he had never gotten the opportunity. Then things happened, and before he knew it he had been hanging out with less-than reputable people. Not villains, but not paragons of virtue either. 

And now he could fulfill his dream. He could finally look in his mother’s eyes without shame, and he knew that things would only go up from now on. 

* * *

“Izuku are you sure you don't want to punish him?” Inko asked. While she wanted to make Izuku happy, she wasn’t sure about dropping the charges against the man who ‘killed’ him was a good idea. 

“He really didn’t want to hurt anyone; he really regretted it. I think he deserves a second chance.” 

“And how do you know that?” Hisashi asked him.

“I can tell.” 

Inko and Hisashi shared a look at the incredibly cryptic answer.

* * *

Izuku had come back a bit different than he was before. Despite being around six years old biologically, he was a lot more mature than a year of growth would imply. He was less nervous and childish, more—driven. He also started to draw some weird things in his new notebook, or on his mom’s tablet. 

If Hisashi was over the moon when Izuku told him it was a kind of battery, he nearly passed out with excitement when Izuku simply made it with a flick of his wrist. It stored enough energy to power the house for several years, while being as small as his pinky nail. 

He, of course, took both the blueprint and battery to his boss. Around three days later Hisashi came back home with the biggest smile on his face the family had ever seen. He hugged both Inko and Izuku before telling them that he had gotten a big promotion and would even get to meet some of the more important investors of the company. The entire family was even invited to a formal dinner party with them later on in the year.

Inko immediately fell into a frenzy of what to wear and what to say to not make any slip-ups. Hisashi had to calm her down by telling her that the Yaoyorozus were a family too, and even had a little daughter Izuku's age.

  
  


Even though he had adjusted to his previous life exceptionally well, Izuku still had some minor problems, mostly with speaking Japanese rather than Gothic, although occasionally walking through doors or corridors made him a bit anxious. Getting run over multiple times by a group of tech-priests makes you a little paranoid. 

Katsuki was brutal to him at school as well. Now it was less out of a sense of superiority and more out of jealousy that Izuku was bigger than he was. 

While actually remembering the kanji was still a bit rusty, his Japanese teacher adored his neatness, comparing it to a computer printer rather than a five-(six?)-year-old boy. Izuku had flashbacks to a very upset tech-adept who had had to decipher his handwriting, then being forced to use an auto-quill until the priests could decipher his writing. A forgotten language was nothing to scoff at.

Katsuki’s animosity climaxed in a little brawl with Izuku. Whilst nothing bad had really happened, both mothers had been called and both boys received a scolding. After that the school kept a close eye on Katsuki, teachers were informed, and the ‘no-quirk-usage-on-school-grounds’ policy was finally being enforced.

* * *

Months passed, and the day of the party finally rolled around, with Inko, Hisashi and Izuku dressing up. Inko wore a long, green dress with white elbow-long gloves, Hisashi was in a nice three-piece suit with a green tie. Izuku, on the other hand, wore a nice blue dress shirt with black pants and dress shoes. His wild green curls had been tamed to the best of Inko’s ability. 

“Why do I have to go?” he whined.   
  


“Izuku, this is very important for all of us, okay? So be nice and behave, or at least try not to whine,” Hisashi told him.

Izuku didn't want to go to a stranger’s house; he wanted to take a nap. His dad had been hounding him for more blueprints or models all day every day for the past couple of weeks.

Despite all of his pouting and whining, he got into the provided car, and the trio made their way to the Hall. 

Once they arrived, Inko did a last minute check up on both of her boys. She was flabbergasted that Hisashi had somehow messed up his tie, and that Izuku's hair was a bird's nest again. Sighing to herself, she walked to the door. 

After getting checked through security, the family entered a large hall. Classical music filled the air, mixing with the murmur of people talking. 

They were greeted by a woman in a very revealing black dress, a man with a similar suit to Hisashi save a black tie, and a girl Izuku’s age dressed in a red frill dress. that were dressed just as elegantly as themselves. “Ah, the Midoriyas. I'm happy that you made it,'' the man exclaimed.

“Oh no, Mr. Yaoyorozu. It's an honor to be here today. Erm, this is my wife, Inko, and my son, Izuku.”

Inko and Izuku bowed politely during the introduction. 

“Well thank you for coming. I am Yaoyorozu Sana. This is my wife, Akari, and our little daughter, Momo.” Momo’s nose was currently buried in a book, yet when her name came up she gave a polite little bow.

“Momo.” The girl looked up at her father. “Could you take little Midoriya with you? I'm sure that our business talk would bore him to death.”

“Yes papa.” Momo put a bookmark into her book and then held out her hand. Izuku, took it and walked with her.

“How adorable,” cooed Inko, receiving an approving hum from Akari. 

* * *

Izuku was bored. The party was mostly talking and the girl ignored him in favor of reading. He let out a little sigh as he pulled out one of his pet projects. It was an unfinished Data-Slate. He wanted to replace the one his father had ‘borrowed,’ and the new one was small and thin enough to not be found by his dad.

He had most of it in place; just a few more parts and it would work. As he fiddled around with it, he started to mumble. “Ok, the powersource and the data-mediums are in; all I need to do is put in some condensers and the memory and it will be rea—”

“What are you doing?” 

Izuku nearly jumped out of his seat at the sudden question. “By Terra, you scared me!” he exclaimed, clutching his chest and feeling his heartbeat.

The girl, Momo, pointed at the Data-Slate and asked, “What is that? I have never seen something like this.”

“Uhm, it’s a Data-Slate... a sort of tablet.”

“What does it do? Why does it look so strange? What is it made out of?” 

Izuku was a bit surprised and blinked at the girl. Normally, people were content with his easy explanation. From the way this girl kept asking questions, he didn’t think that would be the case. 

So he started to talk, starting with specifics about the Data-Slate. After his explanation, Izuku showed her his quirk. The girl’s eyes widened before she created a little matryoshka doll of Izuku.

They talked some more about their quirks and how they worked. Izuku was incredibly jealous that Momo could make any object of any size as long as she had enough lipids and knew how its make up was. In return, Momo was jealous that Izuku didn't need to eat to use his quirk and that he only needed to know the inner workings of it. And that he could make food and water. 

It was a friendship made in heaven. Izuku’s rambling and Momo’s cleverness let them forget everything except the Data-Slate, which was sooner completed than Izuku had thought. When Momo asked what it could do, Izuku simply asked for her book.

He scanned the book with it and then showed Momo that the book was now digitally encoded on the Data-Slate. A few clicks later and the book’s contents were sorted in alphabetical order.

She was incredibly impressed, asking more and more questions about its function and application, already thinking up ways to reproduce the object. She was heavily disappointed when Izuku told her that he didn't know the atomic structure of some of the components. 

“Izuku!” they heard Mr. Midoriya call from the dining room. “We need to go home. Please say goodbye to your new friend.”

Izuku looked a bit betrayed by his dad before he noticed that it was way, way, waaaay past his bedtime, and that most of the guests had already left. 

“But Daaaad! I wanna stay some more! Momo and I are doing important tests.” 

His dad sighed a little. “I’m sorry Izuku, but we really have to go. You can talk with her another time, okay?” 

Izuku pouted until his mom came and started teasing him about his ‘girlfriend,’ which caused him to blush heavily and then stammer out a goodbye to Momo and her parents before rushing out. 

The two mothers giggled and the dads smiled at that, then the Midoriyas said their goodbyes and left for their car. Only after they had driven off did Momo notice that she still had the Data-Slate in her hands. 

Knowing that her parents would take it away from her and give it to some scientist, she hid it. It had taken the two of them hours to build it and she didn't want to betray her new friend like this. 

The next day, Izuku briefly wondered where he had left the Data-Slate before starting the process of making a new one. 

And with that, life went on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Derpo: Thank you for reading my fic. This little fic came to me as a random thought, and is the first one I've put down on paper.
> 
> I also thank Pizzaplate for helping me with the lore and the wording of the story, and Raef of Epsi's Hoard for being an awesome editor and beta reader.
> 
> You can find the Hoard here: https://discord.gg/YydhuBun2y
> 
> Pizzaplate: Thanks for giving us your attention. You can find me both on the Hoard, and on a discord server I run with a few other authors. You can find that here: https://discord.gg/KyzCTwfh55


	6. Fiery Hearts and Flaming Rage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku has been home for nearly a year. How does he re-adjust? 
> 
> And, perhaps more importantly,
> 
> How does Bakugo Katsuki?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pizzaplate: So... this took a lot longer than either of us anticipated. I swear me and Swissman must have rewritten this chapter about four times now. Its a bit shorter than average (and especially last chapter), but the good news is that Chapter 7 is already well under way, as initially this chapter and it were one large chapter! Expect this story to be updated AT LEAST once a month (and preferable more often than that).

Inko hummed to herself as she made breakfast in the kitchen. It was a Sunday, so Izuku had finally been able to sleep in, and even though it was nearly noon, Hisashi hadn't bothered getting dressed. They sat together at the kitchen table. Hisashi gleamed over the morning paper while Izuku fiddled with one of his gadgets.

He had been working on that particular creation for almost two months by now, his face scrunched up in focus and wearing a magnifying monocle similar to a jeweler's. Scattered around him were tweezers, very small screwdrivers, and a few parts that he hadn't put into it yet. 

Hisashi took a sip of his coffee and took a loving gaze at Izuku. Knowing better than to disturb Izuku while he was working, he turned back to his paper.

Inko smiled softly. It had been almost a year since that emotional day when Izuku came back. And while the experience had certainly changed him, it seemed to Inko that it had been a net positive. He was less anxious, his stutter had nearly disappeared, and he had this  _ drive _ that had been lacking before.

“Boys, lunch is almost ready. Dear, can you take out the dishes?” 

“Sure sweetie.” 

Hiashi stood up, folded the newspaper, and started to take out some plates. Izuku installed a piece of metal into the machine and put it aside. He was glad for the distraction; even though the hololith was almost completed, staring too long at the unshielded emitter gave him a headache.

Lunch was fairly peaceful. Izuku talked about school, and how simple it was compared to the education he had gotten in the Palace. Hisashi explained to Izuku about how the tech he had made was being used, and Inko talked about what Mitsuki and her had done yesterday.

Inko snapped her fingers. “Oh, speaking of which. Izuku, sweetie, how is little Katsuki?”

“He’s gotten kinda calmer. He still swears like a sailor, but he’s toning it down. I think now that his quirk has finished coming in, he’s mellowing out a bit.”

“What makes you think that?” Hisashi interjected.

“I'm not sure, just— a feeling.”

Hisashi volunteered to do the dishes as Inko made herself tea and pulled out the sudoku from the newspaper , while Izuku set up his little workstation again. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Inko kept watch as Izuku worked on his latest project. An eight sided disk with little cones in each corner, with a dome-like piece in the middle that was currently opened up to allow Izuku to work on it.

After she had filled a decent amount of her sudoku, she heard Izuku whisper a little ‘huzzah’. He set down his tools and then carefully picked up the disk.

He gave it a once-over and then lightly touched the dome. The machine hummed and one by one lights appeared from the cones. Just as the last one lit, the noise died and then a blinding flash of light came from it, along with a shout of pain from Izuku. Inko ran to help her baby with Hisashi in tow.

“Izuku, sweetie, is everything ok?”

  
  
“ _Viri sánguinum, infernum, quae in machina animo perturberis?_ ”

“Izuku! Japanese, please.” 

He paused then spoke up.

“I’m fine,” he said, clearly not fine as he pressed his hands against his eyes. “Just got flash-blinded a little bit.”

Hisashi looked at the disk, now charred black with thin wisps of smoke curling out from inside. “What did you try to build?”

“A hololith, it's like those fancy hologram TVs, but it's 3D.”

“Well, looks like you’ll have to start over again.”

“Huh?”

  
  
“It’s smoking.”

  
  
Izuku groaned, roughly two months worth of work had gone up in smoke in seconds.

Inko carefully removed his hands from his eyes to check the damage done to his eyes, they were red and puffy from the tears but otherwise looked good. She picked him up and sat down with him on the couch. Petting his hair to reassure him that it's okay.

After his vision had returned Izuku picked the Hololith up from where he had been flung to. Cracking it open was the easy part, finding what had burned out and fixing the damage was considerably more difficult.

* * *

  
Bakugo Katsuki was annoyed. Ever since Deku had ‘come back’ from wherever he went, he had changed. No matter what he said and did, Deku wouldn't stop trying to be a hero, despite having a useless quirk. And the worst part? The teachers were _praising_ him! 

HIM!

Useless little Deku.

And then they stopped him putting Deku into his place, where he belonged. They told the old Hag and he got an earful when he got home, and as if that wasn't enough they also forbid him from using his totally awesome quirk at school.

Bakugo was fuming with anger, but since the teachers were watching him like fucking hawks he couldn't even touch any of the extras.

So he grumbled and swore under his breath. But as time went on, he stopped getting so angry. Well, to be accurate he was still angry, but it was no longer all-encompassing rage. Things that would have had him seeing red just pissed him off now.

What got him as well was that as Deku got better at everything, it got harder and harder to be better than him. He knew that he had to be the best, and if he couldn’t be the best it wasn’t worth trying at all. _He_ was going to be the number one hero, not _Deku_. So why was this so hard? Why was Deku so strong? What had happened to him during the day that he had gone missing?

Stewing in his thoughts, he almost didn’t notice his body had decided to take the long way home. He looked up to see that he was in the park a few blocks from his house, and— is that Deku?  
  
Sure enough, Deku was standing in the middle of the park’s playground doing some sort of workout routine. Climbing up one of the metal poles and doing some pull ups, doing pushups on the tarmac, and doing other body weight exercises. He would then take a break from the physical workout and begin creating objects for a short while before starting the cycle over again. 

His anger flared, _“That's why he is getting better. The fucker is training! And he’s even training his quirk! I’ve got to step up my game if I’m going to be the future number one!”_

With that in mind Katsuki also started to exercise. Running, push ups, pull ups, jump jacks and more. When he asked for a gym membership his mom and dad both said no, at least not until he was a bit older as “A seven-year-old shouldn’t be concerned about working out”. 

Katsuki threw his entire focus into working out his quirk when he could and his body when that wasn’t an option. He was so single-minded that he barely even registered his eighth birthday coming and going. The extras and their parents gave him a bunch of really cool gifts, with the exception of Deku, who said he ‘needed more time’.

* * *

HeroCon was one of the single largest conventions held in the world today. Hosted in Saitama Ward in Tokyo, Heroes from all over Japan and the world congregated to hear the new rankings, bump elbows with support companies and other heroes, and meet some of their most dedicated fans.

And it was this week.

Katsuki desperately wanted to go, more than anything he had ever wanted in the whole world. He begged his parents to go, promising all sorts of things if he could just get a day pass.

His parents decided to humor him, and got him with them on the computer as they searched for tickets.

  
  
And then they saw the prices.

As much as they loved their darling Katsuki, taking a second mortgage on their apartment was _not_ something they were prepared to do. 

Mitsuki suggested that he maybe ask Izuku. Afterall, his dad _did_ work for a support company, and he almost certainly had a spare ticket or two for his family, but Katsuki shot her down. He wasn’t going to beg _Deku_ for a ticket, no matter what it was for.

* * *

When Katsuki went back to school the next week, still sulking a bit that he hadn't managed to get a ticket. As if the universe was set on reminding him of his misfortune, one of the first things that he saw was Deku waving excitedly at him. He quickly rummaged through his backpack for something before running over to Katsuki's desk, beaming at him and holding out an envelope. 

“Sorry for it being so late Kacchan, but here is your birthday present.”

Katsuki grunted and almost tore the envelope out of his hands, taking a critical look at it. A year ago he would have blown it up without looking at it, but—a single look can’t hurt.

Fumbling around with it he pulled out a hard, thin card. He paused, he knew those cards. They were given out at HeroCon for autographs. 

Pulling it out more revealed a message.

**_“To Young Bakugo_ **

**_I have heard of your wish to unseat me as the number one hero, and am thrilled for the challenge. Keep up with your training and stay in school, but stay kind to your friends and supporters. I may be number one but I certainly couldn’t have done it alone! I look forward to seeing you on the Hero Billboard!_ **

**_All Might_ ** **_”_ **

In the bottom right corner was a caricature of all might giving him a thumbs up. All Might’s personal seal.

Katsukis jaw dropped to the floor, he knew what this meant. Izuku not only had managed to track All Might down, he had also gotten a signature from him, and Katsuki knew All Might only handed out one per person or group. 

“ _This dork… gave up an autograph from_ **_All Might_ ** _for me._ ”

He switched between looking at Izuku and the card, Izuku just smiled more and more. Bakugo carefully put the card back into the envelope, walked to his desk and slipped it into his backpack. Then, with a stony face, he walked back over to Deku (Izuku?). Thoughts raced through his mind, things that he could say, things that he could do, things—. 

He simply put him in a strong hug. That’s all he did. He did not whisper thank you’s into Izuku’s (Deku’s?) ear. But most importantly he would swear until the day he died he had never teared up, not in the slightest. 

Izuku had not calculated that reaction, and was rather surprised by Katsuki’s open emotions. He first stood there like a stone pillar bus slowly, tepidly, hugged him back. 

As the teacher arrived and class finally started, the rest of the students looked at Bakugo, and wondered what the note had said to make him act so… strange.

* * *

As Katsuki reread the note for the nth time that evening he remembered all the shit he had given Izuku for trying to be kind to him,he wondered _why_. Why was Izuku trying to be nice to him? What made him decide to reach out? Why does he even care about me?

His brain decided to answer him by flooding his mind with memories he had long since forgotten about.

  
  
_“Come on Kaachan, we’re going to be the best hero team ever!”_ nononnononono—  
  


_“That’s a really cool quirk Kaachan! I bet you’ll be even better than All Might when you grow up.”_ pushthememoriesdown—

_“Kaachan, what do you mean I won’t be a hero?”_ I’msosorryDekuIzukuDekuIzuku

_“We’re gonna be best friends forever!”_

Katsuki took in a gasp of air as the memories faded. His head hurt and his heart was pounding, but he neither mattered as a single thought floated through his mind.

"He never stopped being my friend."

That… that felt like a knife being driven into his chest.

Bakugo Katsuki sat in his room, floored by the simple and pure act of kindness that he absolutely didn’t deserve. Then, as the seconds ticked on, a small desire wormed its way into his heart. A small spark at first, which then grew into a fire, and then a conflagration of burning determination.

“I’m gonna be the *best* fucking friend Izuku could ask for.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Derpo/Swissman: Thank you for reading my fic. This little fic came to me as a random thought, and is the first one I've put down on paper.
> 
> I also thank Pizzaplate for helping me with the lore and the wording of the story, and Stress of Epsi's Hoard for being an awesome editor and beta reader.
> 
> You can find the Hoard here: https://discord.gg/YydhuBun2y
> 
> Pizzaplate: Thanks for giving us your attention. You can find me both on the Hoard, and on a discord server I run with a few other authors (now including Swissman)! You can find that here: https://discord.gg/KyzCTwfh55


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